A video of an elderly Sikh man collapsing at the ongoing farmers' protest in Delhi has surfaced on social media with claims that the visuals show his last moments. BOOM found that the man, identified as Iqbal Singh, had suffered a cardiac arrest and is now undergoing treatment in Amritsar.
The video is being shared with netizens expressing grief over the death of a protesting farmer. According to latest reports as many as 50 farmers have lost their lives during the ongoing agitation, many due to the harsh winter conditions of Delhi.
Thousands of farmers have camped in and around the Delhi borders braving the biting cold to protest against the three farm laws passed by the Center which they believe will clamp their income and emerge profitable for big agri and retail players.
The video is doing the rounds on Facebook with the caption, "Farmer died, in front of camera at Singhu border."
The post can be read
here and it has been archived
here.
The video is viral on Facebook in Bangla with the same narrative. One such caption reads, "Farmer's Mutiny, suddenly the camera captured a tragic instance of death." (কৃষক বিদ্রোহ হঠাৎ ক্যামেরাবন্দী হয়ে যাওয়া অত্যন্ত মর্মান্তিক ঘটনা "মৃত্যু")
The post can be read
here and is archived
here.
BOOM was able to identify the man in the viral video as one Iqbal Singh, 77, who suffered a cardiac arrest and is now being treated at Amritsar. According to his nephew, Singh was there at the protest site for three days before the mishap was captured on camera.
Upon searching with relevant keywords "farmers dying on camera Singhu border" we were led to a
tweet by a Chandigarh-based journalist Gagandeep Singh. On January 3, 2021, Singh tweeted the same viral video with the description, "A farmer collapsed on the protest site. He's in a stable condition now but let's pray for his speedy recovery and pray for all the people who are protesting in this cold weather. #farmerprotest #farmers #istandwithfarmers". Singh also
tweeted an image of the septuagenarian after he was rescued.
BOOM then reached out to Lovepreet Pabla, one of the demonstrators, who rescued the septuagenarian and provided him first aid at the protest site. Pabla told BOOM that the incident occurred on January 3 morning around 11.3O am. "Iqbal was going to the langar organised by a Muslim federation and he suddenly collapsed near our tent. (Yellow tent seen in the viral video). We then took him to our tent and gave him first aid, checked his blood pressure and informed his relatives. After two hours Iqbal's relatives arrived and took him to Amritsar for treatment," Pabla informed
BOOM also reached out to Amandeep Singh, Iqbal Singh's nephew, who informed that Singh's condition is now stable. Amandeep told BOOM, "My uncle (Iqbal Singh) suffered a massive heart attack on Sunday and he is doing fine now."
