A nearly two-year-old photo of protest rally organised by farmers in Delhi is viral claiming it shows the recent nationwide protest by farmers against the new agri bills passed by the Central government.
The photo is being shared in the backdrop of ongoing farmer protests against the contentious agricultural reform bills that were passed in the Rajya Sabha with voice voting on September 21, 2020. Farmers' organisations around the country held a nationwide demonstration on September 25, 2020. As many as 31 farmer organisations, under ageis of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) had joined hands for the complete shutdown of Punjab to protest against the bill.
While the Central government states that these bills are aimed at benefiting farmer, farmers, union leaders and activists claim that they shall destabilise the Minimum Support Pricing (MSP) system and provide exploitative opportunities to big corporations.
Also Read: Why Are The Farm Reform Bills Stirring Protests Among Farmers?
The viral photo is being shared with a caption in Hindi that translates to which translates, "Farmers have reached Delhi's Rajpath"
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(In Hindi - दिल्ली के राजपथ पर किसानों का दखल)
Another post with the same image had a caption in Bengali when the caption translates to, "The highways of Delhi are occupied by the peasants."
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(In Bangla - দিল্লির রাজপথ কৃষকদের দখলে।)
Also Read: 2017 Rajasthan Protest Photo Viral As Recent Haryana Farmer Protests
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral photo is from the Kisan Mukti March when farmer and agricultural labourers in Delhi protested by marching towards the Parliament on November 29, 2018.
A reverse image search led us to news reports, carrying the same viral photo. One can spot, "All Indian Kisan Coordination Committee" written on the banner held by the farmers in this photo published by NewsClick on November 30, 2018.
The two-day farmer protest was organised by a pan-Indian organisation of 250 farmers' organisations demanding that Parliament convene a 21-day special session to discuss the ongoing agrarian crisis.
We found other photos from the same rally in this News 18 report with the same banner seen in all the images and the same people holding it.
BOOM has previously debunked misinformation around the recent farmer protest against the farm bill with unrelated and old photos being shared as recent. Photos and videos from past farmer protests of different states were viral falsely claiming that they are from the farmer protests held on September 25, 2020 around the country.
Also Read: Visuals From Old Unrelated Farmer Protests Viral As Recent