This video shows Khalistan supporters tearing off Indian flag outside the UN in New York during PM Modi's address - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 5, 2021
In the light of the recent incidents of violence where a car mowed down protesting farmers in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri, that led to the death of the farmers and BJP workers, a social media post accompanying a video of a group of Khalistan supporters tearing the Indian flag is being shared widely. The post claims that these protests are linked to the farmers’ protest and the Uttar Pradesh incident. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Protesting farmers in Uttar Pradesh tearing off the Indian flag.
Fact: The video actually shows protests organised by Khalistan supporters outside the UN building in New York during PM Modi’s UN address last month. Few online news portals reported the same video. The video has nothing to do with India or the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Google search with relevant keywords led us to a tweet by NRI Herald which shared the same video. The video is shared with a description which reads ‘Khalistani Sikh extremists spotted at New York during PM Modi’s visit tearing off Indian National flag while shouting  extremist slogans.’ NRI Herald is an Australia-based web news portal that mostly carries news related to India. NRI Herald also shared the same video on their Facebook page.
NRI Herald Australia reports: Khalistani Sikh extremists spotted at New York during PM modi’s visit tearing off Indian National flag while shouting  extremist slogans. pic.twitter.com/7qVVoYgVKw
Taking a cue from the above tweet, further search yielded a couple of online news articles (here & here) which reported the protests outside the UN in New York while PM Modi was addressing the UN General Assembly last month (September 2021). These articles published images related to the protests, in which we can spot the same two Sikh protesters who are seen desecrating the Indian National Flag in the viral video.
A YouTube channel live-streamed the above-mentioned protests during Modi’s UN address last month. Even in this video, we can spot the same two persons who are seen in the viral video.  Further, mainstream news agencies have also reported the protests during PM Modi’s UN address (here & here). Hence, from all these, we can infer that the viral video shows protests organised by Khalistani supporters during PM Modi’s UN address last month in New York and have nothing to with India or Lakhimpur Kheri incident.
To sum it up, a video of Khalistan supporters tearing off the Indian national flag outside the UN building in New York during PM Modi’s UN address is passed off attributing it to the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.