A video showing an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi tied to a tractor in the United States is viral on social media with a false claim that it is from the ongoing farmers' protest in India. BOOM found that the video is not from India and that the audio of viral clip has been doctored to make it appear like it is from India.
However, it is not entirely clear when the video was shot.
Thousands of protesting farmers from neighbouring states, including Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, are marching towards the capital with their tractors demanding assured prices for their crops and the implementation and legal guarantee of a Minimum Support Price (MSP) by the central government.
The viral video shows an effigy of Modi with shoes tied around it and tied to a tractor. A few placards supporting the farmers' protest can also be seen.
In the video, a voice can be hear asking why are farmers going to Delhi in the cold, to which another response in Punjabi can be heard saying, "He has snatched our bread (roti), he will take our land, we will punch Modi."
The video was posted on X by the handle Yogi Devnath (@MYogiDevnath) with the caption when translated reads, "These are farmers?? The agitators are proudly presenting the photo of Khalistani Bhindranwale and making an effigy of the country's Prime Minister Modi ji and dragging him around. The government should now treat these Khalistanis in the same way as it was done before."
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The same viral video with the edited audio was posted by X handle Mr Sinha (@MrSinha_) with the caption, "Blood boils." BOOM has debunked misinformation peddled by the right-wing account on several occasions.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral video of an effigy of Modi tied to a tractor is from Aurora, Oregon, United States, and not from India at the ongoing farmers' protest site as being claimed on social media.
Additionally, we also found that the audio in the viral video has been overlaid onto it and been taken from an NDTV news report from 2020, which was a ground report from the Haryana - Delhi border on the then farmers' protest against the three farm laws that were introduced by the central government.
Using the telephone number on the signboard we were able to identify the eatery as 'Sizzling Tandoori Hut' and geo-locate it to Aurora, Oregon, United States.
We can see the same shop boards as in the viral video. Also the same blue mini tractor can be seen at the entrance of this restaurant as in the viral video.
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We can see these same elements in the viral video that establish that the video is from Orgeon, United States, which establish it is not from India. A comparision can be seen below:
Unrelated audio from 2020 NDTV report on farmers' protest
Taking a hint from the audio in the viral video, we ran a keyword search on Facebook and found that the original video is from a 2020 NDTV news report, whose audio has been taken and edited into the viral video to make the false claim.
We found the same audio that can be heard in this Facebook post from December 2020, where the NDTV reporter asks a protester why are they going to Delhi in the cold and he replies saying, "He is snatching our bread (roti), he will take our land, we will punch Modi"
(Additional reporting by Sujith A)