Several old pictures and videos have been shared on social media with the claim that they represent the ongoing farmers’ protests. In the latest spree, a photo of thousands of people sitting on the road was circulated. Facebook page ‘Khari Khari News’ posted this picture, drawing over 1,000 likes as of this writing.
सर्द हवाओं के बीच…
काले आसमान के नीचे…
दिलों में अंगारे भरे हुए….
आप पार का संकल्प लिए…
अपने हकों की रक्षा के…Posted by Khari Khari News on Sunday, 29 November 2020
Bengali news website ‘guruchandali’ and a Tamil news outlet published this photo as recent scenes from farmers’ protest.
It is quite widely circulating on Facebook as recent.
Fact-check
A simple reverse-image search led us to the same photograph uploaded by Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan on March 11, 2020. It represents the farmers’ long-march led by CPI(M) in Maharashtra.
CPM-led ‘long march’ of farmers in Maharashtra heralds the future of resistance struggle in India #KisanLongMarch pic.twitter.com/GnDV89DGns
— Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) March 11, 2018
It was also uploaded by media outlets two years ago.
About 25,000 farmers have been marching to towards #Mumbai to protest against the anti-farmer policies.
They have gathered at the Eastern Expressway Highway, opposite Viviana mall in #Thane. pic.twitter.com/ROlvkePsjH
— Mumbai Live (@MumbaiLiveNews) March 10, 2018
“Over 30,000 farmers marched to Mumbai, from different parts of Maharashtra, for five days from March 7 to 12 to draw the State government’s attention to their demands, that included transfer of forestland to tribals who had been tilling it for years,” reported The Hindu on March 17, 2018.
Two-year-old image of farmers’ protest in Maharashtra has therefore been falsely shared as the ongoing peasants’ movement.