Fact testing: Seven-year-old image of UP is incorrectly linked to farmers’ agitation

An image of a man in a Modi-t shirt attacking police personnel went viral. The statue is linked to the ongoing farmer protests. India Today Anti-Fake News War room (AFWA) has found that the viral image is seven years old and originates from Uttar Pradesh.

Amid the ongoing battle between farmers agitating against the three farm laws and the police in Delhi, an image of a man wearing a Modi t-shirt attacking police personnel has gone viral. The statue is linked to the ongoing farmer protests.

Various Twitter and Facebook users posted this picture with Bangla, Hindi and English captions.

According to some of the reports with a Bangla caption, the person in the image disguised himself as a farmer and attacked the police for blaming the protest against the farm laws. The caption also states that his identity lies in the Modi-t shirt he wears.

India Today Anti-Fake News War room (AFWA) has found that the viral image is seven years old and originates from Uttar Pradesh. It has nothing to do with the ongoing peasant protest. On June 30, 2014, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers clashed with police in UP during protests against the Akhilesh Yadav government over the rising crime rates in the state.

The archived versions of the posts are stored here, here, and here.

Truth behind the viral image

Using reverse image search, we found that the image in question was published in 2014 as part of several media reports. The Telegraph gave the photo thanks to Press Trust of India (PTI).

The caption for the photo reads: “A BJP activist fights with a policeman on Monday during the protest outside the Assembly in Lucknow (PTI).”

According to these news reports, on June 30, 2014, BJP as an opposition party protested against the ruling Samajwadi Party government against the violent cases of crime in Uttar Pradesh. During this demonstration, BJP workers fought police batons and water cannons outside the State Assembly in Lucknow.

The same photo also went viral last year, alleging that it was a BJP worker fighting the West Bengal police, which was downplayed by the fact checkers.

Here, too, the image went viral again with a misleading claim that it was linked to the ongoing peasant agitation.

ClaimThe person in the photo disguised himself as a farmer and attacked the police for slandering the protest against farm laws. His identity lies in the Modi-t-shirt he wears. ClosureThis is a seven year old photo of Uttar Pradesh. On June 30, 2014, BJP workers clashed with police during protests against the Akhilesh Yadav government over rising crime rates in the state.

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

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