A video of a few people holding the flag of Khalistan tying the Indian tricolour to a ball and playing football in an act of disrespect is being shared on social media claiming them to the farmers from ongoing Farmer protests in Delhi. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Amidst the ongoing (2024) farmer protests in India, farmers disrespected the Indian flag by tying it to a ball and playing football.
Fact: In June 2023, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani terrorist, was killed in Surrey City, situated in the British Columbia province of Canada. In reaction to this, Khalistani supporters protested outside the Indian consulate, alleging the involvement of Indian envoys in his murder, while also showing disrespect to the Indian flag. The viral videos shows this protest from Canada and has nothing to do with the protesting farmers in India. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On conducting the reverse image search using the keyframes of the video, we found that the viral video has been in circulation since July 2023 (here and here). These posts indicated that this incident took place in Canada. Upon careful examination of these videos, we observed that the word ‘CANADA’ was written in English on the bus in the background, along with individuals holding Khalistani flags. On the other hand, farmer associations geared up for a massive protest on 13 February 2024.
The video was initially found to be posted on X on 10 July 2023 by Devanshu Narang an Indo-Canadian resident. Devanshu, on his Facebook page, gave a detailed narrative about the incident by stating “In front of the Indian consulate in Toronto, there was opposition to Khalistani supporters. About 50 people came out in support from India’s side. When Khalistanis arrived, they disrespected the Indian flag by using it as a football. Amidst the standoff between the two sides, I intervened to prevent the disrespect of the flag. Despite being hit by Khalistani supporters, I held onto the flag until the police intervened. The police ensured that the disrespect did not happen again.” He posted a video of himself stopping the group from disrespecting the Indian flag on X. A comparison between the viral video and the video posted on X by Devanshu can be seen below.
Subsequent research based on this information led us to the news reports published by Canadian as well as Indian media (here, here and here). As per these reports, in June 2023, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani terrorist, was killed in Surrey City, situated in the British Columbia province of Canada. In reaction to this, Khalistani supporters protested outside the Indian consulate, alleging the involvement of Indian envoys in his murder, while also showing disrespect to the Indian flag. The viral video is related to this protest. In a video highlighted by the media, Devanshu is seen engaging in an argument with members of the Khalistan group. The comparison between the video posted by Devanshu on X and the Media report can be seen below.
Several photographs capturing this incident were also posted on Getty Images.
It is clear from the investigation, that the viral video originates from the protest staged by Khalistan supporters outside the Indian Consulate in Toronto, Canada, on 8 July 2023. This incident is not related to the ongoing (2024) farmers’ protest in India.
To sum up, the people disrespecting the Indian flag are not farmers protesting in India, but Khalistan supporters from Canada.
