An old image of a little girl distributing rotis to people at a langar, a community kitchen of gurdwaras that serve free meals to one and all, has resurfaced in the backdrop of the ongoing farmers' protest in the Delhi borders.
The image shows the little girl smiling and posing with a container of rotis. Netizens misleadingly claim that the minor was spotted at the protest site and was photographed while feeding the farmers at the Delhi borders, who have camped around the city to demonstrate against the farm bills approved and formulated by the Central government.
Several farmers' unions from the North Indian states of Punjab and Haryana are agitating against the bills, which they believe will benefit the big agri and retail players at the expense of the farmers.
The caption shared with the image on Twitter reads, ''And this lovely picture. Cute lil princess in support of our farmers, serving food to them.''
Archive of the tweet can be seen here.
Another viral tweet can be seen below.
The same image was posted on Facebook by Shiromani Akali Dali leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema with a similar narrative. Cheema is the former education minister of Punjab. The caption of the image reads: The daughter of Punjab feeding the peasant warriors of the struggle with her small hands." (Original caption in Punjabi: ਨਿੱਕੇ ਨਿੱਕੇ ਹੱਥਾ ਨਾਲ ਕਿਸਾਨੀ ਸੰਘਰਸ਼ ਦੇ ਯੋਧਿਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਲੰਗਰ ਛਕਾਉਂਦੀ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੀ ਧੀ।").
It is also viral with a caption in Bengali that reads: ''A little fairy appeared in the farmers' movement in Delhi. It is being spread that people have been conned to come and eat under the open sky on the streets. Do you believe this propaganda???'' (Original text in Bangla: ''দিল্লির কৃষক আন্দোলনে হাজির ছোট্ট একটা পরী যারা রাস্তায় খোলা আকাশের নীচে খেতে বসেছে তাদের কেউ 'ফুসলিয়ে' আন্দোলনে পাঠিয়েছে বলে #প্রচার করা হচ্ছে.আপনি এই #অপপ্রচার-কে বিশ্বাস করেন ???'')
Archive of the post can be seen here.
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Fact Check
BOOM ran a reverse image search and found that the photograph is available on social media since 2017. A Facebook post from July 14, 2017 by a page named Guru Ka Langar had the same image of the girl distributing bread to people with a caption, ''Guru ka langar'' which denotes a community kitchen where meals are served in the name of the Guru.
The location given in the image is of Paonta Sahib which is a town in Himachal Pradesh.
BOOM however could not independently verify the location of the photograph. However since it has been on the internet since 2017, it shows that the minor was not photographed feeding protesting farmers at the ongoing farmers' protest.
BOOM has debunked several fake news surrounding the farmers' protest. Read the fact checks below:
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