A viral video depicts a group of men engaged in a heated discussion about money, accompanied by a claim that it portrays protesting farmers quarrelling over fund distribution. The video is being shared, casting the ongoing farmers’ protest in a negative light, suggesting they are paid protesters. In the footage, an elderly man in a yellow turban can be heard accusing the other person of corruption, prompting an aggressive response and a threat to leave the meeting. In this article, we fact-check the assertions linked to the video.”
Claim: Video depicting protesting farmers quarrelling over money. They are paid protestors.
Fact: The video captures a confrontation between farmers and NHAI officials regarding the construction of a bridge in Ambala. Farmers have accused the officials of corruption, citing that the bridge was built one meter below the designated height. This incident occurred well before the start of the current farmers’ protest. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The viral video indeed captures farmers engaged in a heated argument over funds. However, it is unrelated to the ongoing farmers’ protest. Furthermore, the footage portrays farmers drawing attention to corruption in the construction of a bridge.
Upon conducting a reverse image search of the screenshots from the viral video, we discovered a few social media posts featuring the same visuals predating the commencement of the current protest on 13 February 2024 (here & here). This suggests that the video is unrelated to the farmer’s protest.
Based on the interactions in the comments section of these posts, it is clear that the individual engaged in the argument is the farmer’s leader Gurnam Singh Charuni. Following this lead, a search on Gurnam Singh Charuni’s social media accounts led us to discover extended footage of the argument, which was posted on 31 January 2024.
The accompanying description of the video suggests that the argument revolves around the construction of a bridge, which was allegedly built one meter below the required height. And that the farmers’ leader accused NHAI officials of corruption in connection with this matter.
For additional clarification, Aaj Tak conducted a phone interview with Gurnam Singh Charuni, in which he clarified that the issue concerns the construction of a bridge between two villages in Ambala. Initially planned to be three and a half meters high, it was built at a height of two and a half meters, with one meter of soil saved. He stated that his protest pertained to corruption regarding this matter and emphasized that it was unrelated to the farmers’ movement.
To sum it up, a video depicting a dispute between farmers and officials regarding a bridge in Ambala has been erroneously associated with the farmers’ protest
