A photograph of Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan along with Minister of State (MoS) Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh and Vijay Goel is being shared on social media insinuating that the health minister was protesting flouting all COVID protocols amid a raging pandemic.
The image, however, is not recent. The image dates back to 2019, when BJP ministers protested the violence that occurred at Amit Shah's roadshow in West Bengal.
This comes a few days after the BJP announced and held a nationwide protest against the post-poll violence in West Bengal, in which many lost their lives.
CLAIM
The video was widely shared on Facebook and Twitter with the caption, "यह है देश कि सिस्टम..!! बीच में बैठा आदमी, इस देश का “स्वास्थ्य मंत्री” है। बंगाल की हार नही पचने के कारण राष्ट्रपति शासन लगा दो यह कहते हुए धरना पर बैठ गये बिना मास्क ! देश मे रोज “ऑक्सिजन और दवा” की कमी से 3000 से 3500 और ज्यादा भी मर रहे हैं यह दिखाई नहीं देते क्योकि इनको सिर्फ अपने कुर्सी कि चिंता है जनता जाए भाड़ में...!!"
[Translation: This is the country's system!! The man sitting in the middle is our country's "Health Minister". After being unable to digest their defeat in Bengal and seeking imposition of President's Rule, he sat in protest without a mask! Every day at least 3,000 to 3,500 people die due to lack of "oxygen and medicine" in this country but they cannot see it because they are only worried about their position, the people can go to hell!!]
An archived version of this post can be found here.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
The image was shared on Twitter with an additional claim that “they protest when 5-7 of their workers die” and do nothing when thousands die due to lack of oxygen and medicines. An archived version of this tweet can be seen here.
WHAT WE FOUND
We ran a reverse search on the viral image, where we found a report by news portal HW Hindi , published on 15 May 2019, that carried the viral image. The article's headline, originally in Hindi, reads ‘BJP sits in silent protest against Mamata at Jantar Mantar’.
The article attaches a link to a tweet by news agency ANI, which shows more photographs from the event at Jantar Mantar, including the viral image from different angles.
Top leaders from the BJP gathered at Jantar Mantar on 15 May 2019, to protest the clashes that erupted between BJP and TMC supporters in Kolkata. The violence took place during Home Minister Amit Shah's roadshow in the city, one day prior to the protest.
Various news outlets, including The Quint, covered the incident. We found similar visuals from the protest on multiple websites.
Clearly, an old picture from a silent protest held by the BJP leaders in response to the violence in West Bengal between BJP and TMC supporters is being circulated with a misleading claim.
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