A video of a protest by home guards in Silchar ahead of the second phase of the 2021 assembly elections in Assam has surfaced with false claims that it shows current visuals of jawans protesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The video is viral amidst inter-state border dispute between Assam and Mizoram. The row turned violent after clashes resulted in the death of seven people and injured 50 others, including an SP, in an exchange of fire between police forces of Assam and Mizoram. The clashes occurred at the borders of Lailapur in Cachar district, around 355 km away from the capital city of Guwahati.
Explained: Why Assam-Mizoram Border Dispute Goes Back To 150 Years
The 30-second long clip shows moments of a protest march by security personnel who can be heard raising slogans like "Go Back Modi."
The video has been shared with a caption in Bangla, which reads, "Thousands and thousands of jawans are quitting their job and leaving for home in Silchar. And they are shouting slogans, Go Back Modi. Remove Modi and save your country."
(Original text in Bangla: শিলচর থেকে কর্ম ছেড়ে হাজার হাজার জওয়ান বাড়ির উদ্দেশ্যে রওনা দিলেন। আর মুখে গো ব্যাক মোদি গো ব্যাক মোদি স্লোগান দিচ্ছেন। মোদি হটাও দেশ বাঁচাও।)
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The video has been widely shared on Facebook with similar caption.
Fact Check
BOOM saw a reply below one such Facebook post which stated that the video showed visuals of a march conducted by home guards to protest the low allowances and perks provided to them during the polls in Assam. The Election Commission of India (ECI) conducted the Assam assembly election 2021 in three phases on March 27, April 1 and April 6 respectively .
Taking cue, we searched with relevant keywords and found a video uploaded on YouTube by Northeast Live on March 31, 2021. The video is titled as, "Massive protests by home guards in Silchar ahead of second phase" and the bulletin shows similar visuals between 2:24 to 2:34 time stamp. The same video was also posted on Facebook by the Northeast Live, a north-east based news channel. Same people are also seen in the video report (time stamp 0:39-42) by Pratidin Time, a news outlet of Assam.
A comparison of a screengrab from the viral video and Northeast Live's bulletin is given below.
Additionally, we found several reports about the incident. A report by Hindustan Times stated, "Around 1,500 home guards came to the district after being deployed in upper Assam for the first phase. They say the local administration did not arrange for proper food, shelter and water for them. Also, they claimed, that they were supposed to get ₹5,100 for three days of duty, but Cachar administration gave them only ₹900."
Barak Bulletin reported around 1500 home guards had walked more than 15 kilometers from National Automative Testing and R & D infrastructure (NATRiP) to Silchar Railway Station during the protest.