Authors
Soon after the Supreme court ordered a stay on the eviction of over 4,000 families from a land belonging to the railways in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani, users took to social media to share their opinion on the verdict, with some hailing the decision, while others criticised the same.
In this context, several users are sharing a one-minute-long video showing a train passing through a slum that has grown on either side of the railway track. Those sharing the video are claiming it to be from Haldwani, and alleged that those settled alongside the railway tracks were Rohingya Muslims.
Among the users who shared the video was the handle @FFHack07, who in a post made on January 5, tweeted “Here’s a glimpse of the illegal Encroachment done by Rohingyas near haldwani.And now they are playing victim card like shaheenbag through upfronting the ladies and child’s.Even railway have the map of track on which ilg houses present (sic)”
Several other users have also shared this video and claimed the footage was from Uttarakhand’s Haldwani.
The archive of the post can be seen here
Alongside this viral video, an image showing people in a slum alongside a railway line, similar to the frame seen in the viral video, has also found its way to social media. The viral image is being shared by a section of users, including many verified handles, with the caption, “This is what Supreme Court has legitimized today #HaldwaniEnrocahment”.
The archive of the post can be seen here and here
Fact Check
Truth behind the viral video
Newschecker split the video into keyframes using the tool Invid, and closely analysed at each frame. We found a hoarding on one of the houses with the picture of Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee over it.
Taking a hint, we then performed a keyword search on the internet using “slum people near Bengal/ Kolkata Railway video” which led us to many similar videos of slums alongside railway tracks from the state.
Among the many search results, we found one video with frames identical to the one in the viral video. The video, which is 4-minute 5-second long, was posted by one Sukamal Chakraborty on his youtube channel on 13 Jan 2017.
On comparing the two videos, we see that the viral video is identical to the video uploaded by Sukamal Chakrabarty from 0:50-1:12 and from 2:03-2:30.
Thus, we find that the viral video of the train passing through a slum area is not from Haldwani but is from Kolkata, West Bengal.
Result: False
Tracing the source of the viral image
A reverse image search of the viral image led us to an identical image published in an ABC news article titled “ Richest 62 People Control Same Wealth as Poorest Half of World’s Population, Report States” written by Meghan Keneally on January 18, 2016.
We have also traced the image back to Getty Images website where the photo was captioned “The slums and homeless of Kolkata” and was captured by a photographer named Samir Hussein for Getty images in the year 2013.
Thus, we find that the viral image, circulating in the context of Haldwani encroachment, is originally from a slum in Kolkata, West Bengal.
Result: False
Our Sources
Youtube video by Sukamal Chakraborty
News Report by ABC News
Getty Images website
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