An unrelated video of a protester evading a question by a reporter during protests against the Railway Recruitment Board exam earlier this year, is being falsely linked to ongoing nationwide anti-Agnipath protests.
BOOM found that the video is not linked to recent protests but is from protests that took place against the introduction of a new level of selection process by the Railway Recruitment Board in January, 2022.
The video shows a man speaking to several news reporters, as he assures students to protest on their behalf.
The man can be heard saying in Hindi, "I will reach wherever my students are in problem." When asked by media persons about what the demands of the students are, the protester fails to answer and he leaves the interview midway and runs away.
Several Facebook users have taken a dig at the recent anti-Agnipath protests against the new recruitment scheme for the armed forces announced by the government recently.
The video has been captioned in Hindi as, "When it comes agniveer walking on the 'agneepath' why do such agniveers come to mind. " (Original text in Hindi: जब "अग्निपथ" पर चलने "अग्निवीरों" की बात आती है तो जेहन में सबसे पहले ऐसे "अग्निवीर" ही क्यों आ जाते हैं.)
Click here to access the Facebook post.
Following massive protests in the country, the Defence Ministry increased the upper age limit of recruitment to the Agnipath scheme to 23 years. Earlier it was decided that aspirants between 17 and a half years and 21 years were eligible for recruitment under the scheme.
The new model of Agnipath military recruitment scheme released by the Indian Army, will have Agniveers who will be recruited for four years and then discharged from their duties. The Agniveers will be paid a package after the completion of four years. Only 25 percent of each Agniveer batch will be enrolled in the regular cadre of the Indian Army. The scheme, once introduced, will cap the benefits availed by defence personnel post retirement. This has sparked protests across the country.
Also Read: Video Of Woman Thrashing Man In MP Given False Hijab Spin
Fact Check
BOOM observed the video and was able to ascertain that the video is part of a news bulletin. We found a 'Principle of News' logo on the top right corner of the video. Based on this, we looked up the channel on YouTube and found the longer video, which was uploaded on the channel four months ago. The title of the video is: RRB-NTPC का मतलब पता नहीं लेकिन कर रहे छात्रों के लिए protest' (Translation: They don't know the meaning of RRB-NTPC but they are protesting for the students)
The same visuals can be seen from the 32 second mark of the video. The video showed visuals of a protest against the Railway Recruitment Board's Non-Technical Popular Categories (RRB-NTPC) new level of examination. Taking cue, we found a news report of the same incident from Prabhat Khabar. According to the report, huge protests broke out after the Railway Recruitment Board announced a second computer based test for their selection process. Protests erupted in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar as the same was not stated in the previous examination circular and students felt 'cheated'.
Also Read: Old News Report Of Army Aspirant's Suicide Falsely Linked to Agnipath Scheme