After the central government’s announcement of Agnipath scheme for future army recruitments at certain levels, protests have erupted in many parts of the country, opposing the scheme. Police have resorted to lathi charge to control the protesters. In this context, a video of students greeting soldiers plying on road is being widely shared with a claim that soldiers refused to lathi charge the protesters, sympathising with their cause. Further, the post also requests the state police to follow suit. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Visuals of soldiers refusing to lathi charge the protesting opposing the Agnipath scheme.
Fact: Students have staged protests in multiple parts of the country opposing the Agnipath scheme. However, it is the respective police who are dealing with these protests and there are no reports of army deployment in any state to deal with these protesters. Also the extended version of the viral video only shows protesters greeting the soldiers passing on the road. The visuals do not suggest any situation of lathi charge. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
Angry students have staged protests in many parts of the country opposing the Agnipath scheme for army recruitment. Multiple incidents of protesters vandalising public properties have also been reported. However, it is the respective state police who dealt with these protesters (here & here).
Contrary to the claim made in the post, there are no reports of army deployment to deal with the protesters. Hence there is no question of soldiers refusing to lathi charge on the protesters, as claimed in the post.
As far as the viral video is concerned, reverse image search of the screen shots of the video led us to little extended version of the same video. This extended version shows protesters stopping army vehicles passing on the road and greeting them, raising pro-army slogans.
These visuals do not suggest any situation of lathi charge, which implies that the visuals of protesters greeting soldiers are taken out of context and are being shared with a false claim.
To sum it up, these visuals do not show soldiers refusing to lathi charge the protesters.
