AFWA found that the claim was untrue. In fact, the BBC did not even cover Sunday’s Brigade Parade Ground event.
Photo for performance
With the elections in West Bengal around the corner, the left front organized a huge rally on 28 February at the Brigade Parade site in Kolkata. The Federal Congress and the newly formed Indian Secular Front also took part in the protest. Many people on social media now claim that, according to the BBC, it was ‘the world’s largest peaceful political gathering’.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found the allegation false. In fact, the BBC did not even cover Sunday’s Brigade Parade Ground event.
The archived versions of similar posts can be seen here and here.
AFWA investigation
There are several elements in the viral post that cast doubt on the authenticity of the claim. The alleged graphic record was incorrectly spelled “collected” as “geathering”, which is highly unlikely for an institution like the BBC.
After that, we went through the various BBC sites but found no report related to the recent Brigade Parade Ground event. BBC has a dedicated page for news regarding Kolkata. However, we did not even find on this page any report related to the Left-Congress-ISF rally.
We also did a search with the keyword “Kolkata” on the BBC World Facebook page. The last news about Kolkata published on this page was on 21 May 2020 regarding Cyclone Amphan.
To further confirm the matter, we contacted the BBC press office. Tess Colley from the BBC World publicity team sent us an email: “I can confirm that the BBC has not yet published such a story.”
Therefore, it can be concluded that the graphic plate was changed along with the BBC logo. The BBC did not call the Brigade Parade Ground march on 28 February the ‘world’s largest peaceful political rally’.
ClaimAccording to the BBC, the Left Front Congress rally at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground on 28 February was ‘the world’s largest peaceful political rally’. ClosureThe picture is changed. In fact, BBC did not report any news on Sunday’s Brigade Parade Ground event.
JHOOTH BOLE KAUVA KAATE
The number of crows determines the intensity of the lie.
- 1 Crow: Half true
- 2 crows: mostly lies
- 3 crows: absolutely false
