An image of a public meeting organised by the Communist Party of India (CPIM) in West Bengal last year has resurfaced with claims that it shows people in Kolkata pouring in to show support to the protesting farmers in Delhi borders.
The viral image shows an aerial view of a rally featuring a huge crowd.
On December 16, several farmers of West Bengal marched towards Raj Bhawan in Kolkata to demand the repeal of the three farm bills by the central government. The march was organised by the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), a leftist farmers' organisation.
Thousands of famers from several states have camped in and around the borders of Delhi to agitate against the farm bills passed by the Center, which they believe will benefit the big agri and retail players of the market by capping their income.
The caption of the posts on Facebook refers to the previous Left rule in West Bengal. It reads, ''Bengal in support of the peasant movement. This is a picture of Bengal where lakhs of farmers have descended from the leftist organizations, the red will wave in the field, the senses will come, when the oppressor will come out of the corridors of power, the slogans of Inquilab will resonate. India is not Adani Ambani's but it is our country. Now this is a war, there is a lot of fighting ahead.''
Also read: Images From Old CPI Protests Viral As Ongoing Farmers' Agitation
(Original text in Hindi: ''किसान आंदोलन के समर्थन में बंगाल। यह वही बंगाल की तस्वीर है जहां पर लाखों किसान वामपंथी संगठनों से उतरे हैं मैदान में लाल-लाल लहराएगा होश ठिकाने आएगा जुल्मी जब जब जुल्म करेगा सत्ता के गलियारों से चप्पा चप्पा गूंज उठेगा इंकलाब के नारों से अदानी अंबानी की जागीर नहीं भारत देश हमारा है अभी तो यह अंगड़ाई है आगे बहुत लड़ाई है'')
Archive of such posts can be seen here, here and here.
Archive of another such post with a similar narrative can be seen here.
The image was also shared on Twitter with the caption, ''Yesterday's #Kolkata against #FarmBill.''
Archive of the tweet can be seen here.
Also read: 2016 Video Of Pro-Khalistan Rally Falsely Linked To Farmers' Protests
Fact Check
BOOM ran a reverse image search and found a tweet by CPI(M) West Bengal from December 11, 2019 featuring the same image.
According to the tweet, the image was shot at a public meeting at Rani Rashmani Road in Kolkata which was organised to mark the completion of 12 days of Workers' Long March against privatisation, anti-labour policies, citizenship laws and retrenchment of labours.
We also found pictures shared on Facebook in December 2019 on the Workers' Long March which included the viral image.
BOOM found a news report by a Bengali news website, Satdin which published the same image to report about the protest rally organised by the CPIM against the citizenship laws in December, 2019.
BOOM has previously debunked several fake news surrounding the farmers' protest. Read the fact checks below:
Also read: Farmers Protest: 2018 Image Of Long March In Maharashtra Revived