From Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut misidentifying an elderly woman as Bilkis Bano, or Bilkis ‘Dadi’ (grandmother) of Shaheen Bagh, to BJP IT Cell Head Amit Malviya falsely claiming that an elderly man at the Singhu border was not hit by the police, here’s a quick recap of most viral misinformation around the farmers’ protest.
1. Old Woman, Misidentified as Shaheen Bagh’s Bilkis ‘Dadi’, Speaks Up
The photo of an elderly woman taking part in the farmers’ protest had gone viral with a false claim that she is Shaheen Bagh’s Bilkis Bano, or Bilkis ‘Dadi’ (grandmother) who rose to fame after her resilience in the wake of anti-CAA protests and was featured as one of world’s ‘100 Most Influential People Of 2020’ in a list released by TIME magazine.
Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut, in a now deleted tweet, claimed that the two women are the same and that the protester is available for Rs 100.
However, we identified the other woman as Mohinder Kaur, a farmer from from Bahadurgarh Jandian village in Punjab’s Bhatinda and spoke to her about the viral claim.
She told us, “She is from Bombay and I am from here. She hasn’t met me and I haven’t met her. What proof does she have that I have taken 100 rupees to protest?”
You can read the full story here.
2. BJP’s Amit Malviya Uses Cropped Video to Discredit Farmer Protests
On 28 November, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi shared an image captured by a PTI photographer showing a security personnel purportedly about to hit a farmer with a baton at the Singhu border, amid the ongoing farmers’ protest.
BJP IT Cell Head Amit Malviya quote tweeted it and shared a ‘Propaganda vs Reality’ video claiming that the police didn’t even touch the farmer.
We found that the video shared by Malviya was a cropped version and the longer video of the same showed police personnel standing one after the other and the baton of the other cop almost touching the leg of the farmer.
Fact-checking website BOOM contacted the farmer, Sukhdev Singh, who said that he was indeed hit by the baton. While describing the sequence of events, he said that police was firing tear gas shells and wielding lathis.
You can read the full story here.
3. Woman in the Image Isn’t the One Who Visited Hathras Victim’s Kin
A photograph of a group of people standing with what appears to be the flags of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) was widely shared on social media in the context of the farmers’ protest.
It is being falsely claimed that the woman at the centre, wearing a red top, is Dr Rajkumari Bansal, the same woman who had visited the Hathras victim’s family, was accused of having Naxal links and pretending to be her sister-in-law.
But, in reality, the two women are not the same and a false narrative is being created using the said picture. We could trace this picture back to February 2020, which makes it evident that it is not from the ongoing protests.
Further, we spoke to Dr Bansal who called the claims "fake" and said that she has not participated in any of the ongoing protests.
You can read the full story here.
4. Retired Captain Falsely Identified As Injured Farmer Amid Protests
A set of images of a retired Captain of the Sikh Regiment and of an injured farmer have gone viral with the false claim that they are the same man, and the retired Captain was hit while protesting alongside the farmers in the ongoing ‘Dilli Chalo’ march.
The Quint spoke to Sukhwinder Singh, son of Captain (retd) Prithipal Singh Dhillon, the army officer in the viral image, who confirmed that his father was not the same man as the injured farmer and that he was not participating in the protests.
Though we have not been able to identify the injured farmer yet, we found that the viral image of the injured farmer with a bandaged eye has been circulating on social media since 29 November – the same day when Captain Dhillon's photo was posted on Facebook by his son.
We were able to trace the farmer's image back to an agricultural activist Ramandeep Singh Mann's Twitter account. Mann told us that the man hasn’t been identified yet.
You can read the full story here.
5. Farmer Protest: Muslim Man’s Pic Falsely Viral as ‘Disguised Sikh’
The photo of a man wearing a turban is being shared as a Muslim man disguised as a Sikh farmer in the ongoing farmers' Delhi Chalo march to discredit the protests.
However, we found that the viral photo was posted in April 2020, much before the protests against the three farm bills started.
You can read the full story here.
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