Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Protesting farmers serve food and water to policemen amid the agitation.
Fact
Viral videos date back to November 2020 during the farmers’ protest 1.0.
Union ministers Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal and Nityanand Rai and farmer leaders from Punjab are reportedly set to meet on February 18 for a fourth round of talks even as farmers continue their ‘Dilli Chalo’ protest on the Punjab-Haryana border, with Sunday being day six of the agitation.
Amid the farmers’ protest 2.0, a couple of heartwarming videos have gone viral, purportedly showing the protesting farmers serving food and water to the policemen, which led to several social media users calling it an example of how “humanity is always first”.
The archived versions of the tweets can be seen here and here.
Video 1
Newschecker ran a reverse image search of keyframes of the video, which led us to this Twitter post, dated November 28, 2020, sharing a video, seemingly from a different angle, showing protesting farmers serving food to the policemen. A similar Facebook post, dated November 28, 2020, can be seen here.
A comparison of screengrabs of the viral (left) and the 2020 video confirm that it is of the same incident.
A further search led us to multiple news reports, seen here and here, stating that a langar organised by a Gurudwara saw a large number of policemen being fed along the National Highway 1.
“As farmers clashed with police over their march to Delhi to protest against the farm laws, a heart-warming video has emerged from Haryana’s Karnal – where the langar (community kitchen) of a religious centre served a scrumptious (and free) meal to a large number of policemen,” read an NDTV report, dated November 28, 2020, adding that farmers from several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, were marching to Delhi, only to be confronted by a Haryana police force instructed to use lathi charges, tear gas and water cannons.
In November 2020, farmers from Punjab, Haryana, and elsewhere travelled to the outskirts of Delhi and camped there till the three farm laws, against which they were protesting, were repealed in 2021.
Video 2
Newschecker ran a reverse image search of keyframes of the video, which led us to this Instagram post, dated November 27, 2020.
We also came across this Facebook post, dated November 27, 2020, sharing the same video, confirming that the viral clip predates the ongoing farmers’ protest.
Also Read: Alcohol Distributed At Farmers’ Protest? No, Viral Video Is From 2020
Conclusion
Viral videos claimed to show protesting farmers serving food to policemen date back to November 2020, not related to ongoing agitation.
Result: Missing Context
Sources
NDTV report, November 28, 2020
Instagram post, November 27, 2020
Twitter post, November 28, 2020
Facebook post. November 27, 2020
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
