2019 video of protests over CAA and NRC falsely linked to the ongoing farmers’ protests - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 22, 2020
A video is being shared on social media claiming it as the visuals of farmers stopping mainstream media from covering their protests. In the post, we can see the visuals of a mob stopping ‘India Today’ media van from covering the protests. In the wake of farmers’ protest over the new farm legislation, this post is going viral on social media. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of farmers stopping mainstream media channels from covering their protests.
Fact: This video shows Jamia Millia Islamia University students protest over Delhi police’s alleged attack inside their campus during December 2019. Jamia Islamia students stopped mainstream media channels from entering the campus over this issue. This video has nothing to do with the ongoing farmers protest over the new farm legislation. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On reverse image search of the screenshots shared in the post, similar visuals were found in a YouTube video posted by a user on ‘18 December 2019’. In the video, the ticker at the bottom talks about Jamia Millia Islamia University students protest over Delhi police’s attack on students of their University. We can see the visuals of people sending back ‘India Today’  van raising ‘Godi Media Go back’ slogans.
When we searched for more information using these keywords, we found the same video posted in ‘Simanchal Tak’ YouTube channel on ‘16 December 2019’. In the description, it is mentioned as the visuals of Jamia Islamia University students stopping ‘India Today’ media van. ‘Simanchal Tak’ YouTube channel credited this video to ‘Minorities News’.
When we searched further for this video in the official YouTube channel of ‘Minorities News’, the same video was found to be posted on this channel on ‘15 December 2019’. In the description of the video, it is mentioned that these visuals are of Jamia Millia Islamia University students stopping mainstream media channels from covering their protests. Jamia Islamia students reportedly stopped mainstream media channels over indulging in false journalism and backing PM Narendra Modi. Jamia Millia Islamia University students organized these protests over Delhi police’s alleged attack on their campus on ‘15 December 2019’.
According to the ‘The Economic Times’ report, Delhi Police entered Jamia Millia Islamia University after violence erupted in South Delhi during a protest against the amended citizenship act on ‘15 December 2019’. From all these pieces of evidence, it is concluded that the video shared in the post is an old one and has nothing to do with the recent farmers protest over the new farm legislation.
To sum it up, 2019 video of Jamia Millia University students protest over the amended citizenship act is falsely linked to the ongoing farmers’ protests.