Authors
A self-taught social media maverick, Saurabh realised the power of social media early on and began following and analysing false narratives and ‘fake news’ even before he entered the field of fact-checking professionally. He is fascinated with the visual medium, technology and politics, and at Newschecker, where he leads social media strategy, he is a jack of all trades. With a burning desire to uncover the truth behind events that capture people's minds and make sense of the facts in the noisy world of social media, he fact checks misinformation in Hindi and English at Newschecker.
Claim
UP CM was speaking so generously about farmers in Gorakhpur hours ago but look what his police is doing! A farmer is lying half-dead after Police beat him brutally. The police just didn’t stop at this, they continued beating the man, You must be ashamed of yourself. The brutality with the farmers who give us food?
Verification
A video of brutality by Uttar Pradesh Police on protesting farmers went viral on social media causing outrage among users. Many politicians and public figures, including Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi, shared the video and questioned UP police for the alleged brutality. Priyanka Gandhi condemned the lathicharge and questioned UP CM Yogi Adityanath. Many Social media users also condemned the lathicharge by Unnao Police and demanded action against responsible police officers. The intensity of the claim can be seen below
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Click here to see the video ran by One India
Reason Behind Farmers’ protest in Unnao
The UP Government in 2012 announced a residential project named ‘Trans Ganga City Project’ which is being developed by UP State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC). UPSIDC, in order to start the aforesaid project wanted to acquire the land ever since the announcement but massive protests by farmers has been stalling the process for years. Detailed information about the aforementioned project can be accessed below.
U.P. State Industrial Development Authority
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Foundation stone laid for Trans-Ganga City Project
The foundation stone for the Trans-Ganga City Project was laid by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav, on 11 December, 2014. The project, propped as a modern and clean-green city, will be developed by UP State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC). The project is coming up in Unnao distruct, which is ground zero of the proposed Lucknow Industrial Development Authority (LIDA).
Did UP Police really Beat a Half-Dead Man?
The video posted by Priyanka Gandhi and several media outlets suggest that the brutality indeed took place but the video released by the Unnao Police yesterday shows a different version of the story. While Police didn’t refute lathi-charging on protestors, it also didn’t admit brutality on the “half-dead” protestor. If we see the video released by Unnao Police closely, we can easily figure out that the man said to be half-dead is running like a fit and unharmed man. The police has also stated a deliberate attempt by the media to malign the efforts taken by the UP Police in order to maintain law and order in the state. The video released by the Unnao Police can be seen below.
कतिपय समाचार चैनलों एवं सोशल मीडिया पर जमीन पर पड़े अधमरे युवक की पिटाई की घटना का सही वीडियो @Uppolice @dgpup @adgzonelucknow @bstvlive @News18UP @ZEEUPUK @aajtak @samachar_plus @Knewsindia @CMOfficeUP pic.twitter.com/c8pN9I6iiu
— UNNAO POLICE (@unnaopolice) November 19, 2019
The claim made by Priyanka Gandhi and others turned out to be ‘Misleading’
Now since we have seen the video released by Unnao Police, we can see how the person who was allegedly beaten brutally by the Police is running like a normal man. So the claims made by media outlets and various public figures including Priyanka Gandhi is found to Misleading.
Tools Used
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- Google Search
Result: Misleading
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Authors
A self-taught social media maverick, Saurabh realised the power of social media early on and began following and analysing false narratives and ‘fake news’ even before he entered the field of fact-checking professionally. He is fascinated with the visual medium, technology and politics, and at Newschecker, where he leads social media strategy, he is a jack of all trades. With a burning desire to uncover the truth behind events that capture people's minds and make sense of the facts in the noisy world of social media, he fact checks misinformation in Hindi and English at Newschecker.
