Authors
Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.
A video showing a Sikh man being brutally thrashed by miscreants while a crowd is gathered around, witnessing the whole assault, is going viral on social media platforms claiming to show the plight of Sikh community in Pakistan. The man assaulting the Sikh man can be seen tugging at his hair and smashing his head on the ground, leaving him injured and bloody.
The video has been shared on Twitter by twitter user @sanjaygpt098. The post has garnered 16,900 views with 53 likes and 64 retweets along with the caption ‘This is the condition of Sardar in Pakistan, and the Sardar here is dreaming of Khalistan with Mullahs.’
Newschecker advises viewer discretion as the video is brutal in nature.
Newschecker found similar claims on Twitter and Facebook with similar captions.
In the run-up to the Punjab Elections 2022, Aam Aadmi Party’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal was accused of supporting the separatist elements in the state of Punjab and being pro-Khalistan.
After the resounding success of AAP in the state elections and Bhagwant Mann becoming the new Chief Minister of Punjab while defeating Congress, Akali Dal and the BJP, social media has been abuzz with a lot of misinformation regarding AAP’s pro-Khalistan agenda. Newschecker has recently debunked claims of this nature, where it was claimed that pro-Khalistan slogans were raised in Punjab after the victory of AAP.
Recently, Delhi High Court dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Congress leader Jagdish Sharma demanding a high level probe between Aam Aadmi Party and its links to Khalistani separatist organisations. Arvind Kejriwal tweeted out his reply on social media saying ‘The people who called me a terrorist, first the public responded to them. Today the court gave them the answer.’
Fact Check/ Verification
Newschecker conducted a Google reverse image search on the key-frames of the viral video to ascertain its authenticity and found a tweet by a user on March 5, 2022, accusing the Indian government and BJP of atrocities against minorities. The tweet carried the same viral video. One of the users pointed out that the video is from Ludhiana.
Upon performing a keyword search, Newschecker found a news report on YouTube shared by a YouTube channel named ‘The Aone Media’ uploaded on 7th March 2022. According to the report ,the video is from Tibba Road in Ludhiana, where a Sikh youth was badly beaten up by some local people.
Newschecker also found a news article by PTC News uploaded on 5th March, 2022 which contained images similar to the viral video.
According to the article, a Sikh youth was beaten up by the local people on charges of theft from a factory in Ludhiana. The young man’s turban had come off in the beating, after which he was dragged by the hair.
Newschecker contacted Ludhiana Police to confirm the information. ACP Surendra Pal of Tibba Road area confirmed that this video is from Ludhiana itself. According to Pal, “This incident is of March 1, 2022 when a youth belonging to the Sikh community was caught by the people while stealing and brutally thrashed him. The victim youth has been arrested on the charge of theft. The person who was beaten for taking the law in his own hands has also been arrested. An FIR has also been registered in this matter.”
We also contacted Ramandeep Singh, a social worker from Ludhiana. After the incident, Ramandeep had met the family members of the youth who had been beaten up. According to Ramandeep, “The video is from Ludhiana. The name of the victim is Fateh Singh. He has been falsely accused of theft. He was beaten up because of mutual enmity.” Ramandeep also sent us a clipping of the news published in the newspaper regarding this incident.
Conclusion
According to the investigation conducted by Newschecker, the viral video of a Sikh man being brutally beaten up in Ludhiana is being passed off as a video showing the plight of Sikh community in Pakistan.
Our Sources
YouTube video of The Aone Media
Report of PTC News
Quote of ACP Surinder Pal
Quote of Social Activist Ramandeep Singh
Authors
Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.
