A photo of a group of men insulting the Indian national flag is being shared on social media claiming that farmers are insulting the Indian national flag during the ongoing protests. In the photo, we can see a man insulting the Indian national flag by putting his shoe on the flag. Amid the ongoing farmers protest about the new agriculture amendment laws passed by the current government, this photo going viral on social media. Let’s verify the claims made in the post.
Claim: Farmers disrespecting the Indian national flag in the ongoing protests against farm bills.
Fact: The photo shared in the post is an old one. This photo was shot during a protest by the ‘Dal Khalsa U.K’, a pro-Khalistani Sikh organization in London on ‘15 August 2013’. This photo has nothing to do with the ongoing farmers protest against the new agriculture bills passed by the Government of India. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On reverse image search, we found that the same picture was shared on social media in the past. These posts can be seen here and here. On observing the photo carefully, we can see the logo of ‘Dal Khalsa U.K’. When we searched for more information using these keywords, we found the same photo in an article published in ‘Dal Khalsa U.K’ blog. In the article, it is mentioned that Sikhs, Kashmiris & other minority groups gathered on the 15th of August 2013 in Central London to protest against India’s alleged Oppression towards the minorities in India. ‘Dal Khalsa’ is a pro-Khalistani Sikh organization founded in support of getting a separate nation for the Sikh community.
‘Dal Khalsa U.K’ organized this protest at Indian high commission at central London on India’s Independence day in 2013. Few other images related to this protest also shows protestors insulting the Indian national flag. Protests held by ‘Dal Khalsa U.K’ organization on India’s Independence day in 2015 can be seen here. In our research, we found that the person in the photo is the ‘Dal Khalsa U.K’ organization founder late Manmohan Singh Khalsa.
From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that the photo shared in the post is not related to the ongoing farmers protest against the new agriculture laws passed by the Government of India.
To sum it up, Old photo from a Sikh separatist outfit’s protest in London in 2013 is shared as farmers disrespecting the Indian national flag in the ongoing protests against farm bills.
