An old video of a man in military uniform making a controversial remark about Pakistan being able to reach Delhi within ten minutes if Sikh soldiers stationed at India's borders were to join the protest, is being shared as recent and linked to the ongoing farmers' protest.
BOOM found that the video is not recent has been online since January 2021.
Recently, thousands of farmers have resumed their protest against the Central government, demanding a legal guarantee of minimum selling prices for their crops. At present, farmers are staging protests at various points around the Delhi border, with several sustained injuries during clashes with security officials. According to news reports, farmer leaders halted the 'Delhi Chalo' march on February 21, 2024, afternoon following the death of a protestor at the Haryana border. However, Haryana Police refuted the claim from their official X handle.
The video, along with hashtag 'Farmer Protest 2024', was shared by the X handle South Asian Journal with a caption saying, "A Sikh Farmer warns, “if our Sikh boys in Indian Army rebel and join the farmers. It will 10 minutes for Pakistan to reach Delhi”.
BOOM had earlier fact checked the handle South Asian Journal for spreading misinformation on social media. Read our fact check here.
Click here to view the post.
The same video was also shared by X handle Squint Neon.
Fact Check
BOOM found that the video is old and does not show a recent incident from the ongoing farmers' protest near the Delhi border.
We performed a reverse image search on one of the keyframes from the viral video and came across a post on X carrying the same video clip from January 30, 2021. While the viral clip is only 12 seconds in duration, the video from 2021 is 59 seconds long.
The account that posted the video wrote, "A Singh is threatening Modi Gov that if he takes any action against "so called" farmer protesters, their sons in Indian army will leave China & Pakistan borders and march Delhi. This is dangerous, Delhi Police, Office of the Home Minister of India, NIA India please do consider this video seriously."
Click here to view the post.
BOOM could not independently confirm when or where the video was shot. However, we were able to establish that it has been online since Jan 2021.