A video of a man impersonating a soldier of the Indian Army and making a demand for Khalistan, is viral on Facebook. The Indian Army has issued a clarification on their official Facebook page denying the man is with the army, calling him an, "impostor".
The man, wearing army fatigues, identifies himself as Satbir Singh and claims he is an Indian Army soldier, residing in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh. He raises questions about the safety of members of the Sikh community residing in the country in light of the recent attack on a Sikh driver in North Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar.
An archived version of the video can be viewed here.
The video, viewed more than 1000 times at the time of writing this article, has been filmed inside a car. While the original was shared via a Facebook Live, it has since been deleted.
The impostor goes on to say, “This is an attack on the religious sentiments of the Sikhs. They have been fighting for India’s independence and now they are attacked." He also mentions that Sikhs aren’t safe in India and demands for Khalistan, further adding, “I am happy that Sikhs again showed that they are united and elated how support has been pouring in for Sarabjeet and Balwant Singh,” referring to the protests that broke out in Delhi after the attack.
He then throws an open challenge to the cops who want to rough Sikhs up and shares his numbers.
Fact Check
In a post, the Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADGPI) Indian Army’s official Facebook page, rubbished the video and mentioned that the impostor, wearing the Indian Army’s combat uniform was ‘attempting to spread misinformation.’
Indian Army’s post can be viewed below.
BOOM also looked up the contacts shared by the impostor on the Truecaller app but could not get through them. BOOM was unable to independently verify the identity of the person in the video.
The attack on Sarabjeet Singh in New Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar by Delhi Police
The above viral video was made in context of the protests that broke out after a tempo driver, Sarabjeet Singh, was reportedly attacked by Delhi Police, for driving negligence.
Following the viral videos that showed Sarabjeet wielding his sword to attack and Delhi Police thrashing and dragging him, protests by the Sikh community erupted in Delhi.
Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that “such an incident by the Delhi Police was not justified”. Three officers were suspended for the same.