Old Placard Of CAA Supporter Edited And Linked To Fuel Price Hike
BOOM found that the image of the man with the placard has been edited; the original image has been on the internet since 2019.
An old image of a placard supporting the Citizenship Amendment Act has been edited to falsely claim that it is a criticism of Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot for charging more than the Union declared prices for fuel in Rajasthan.
Netizens are falsely claiming that the edited image was clicked at a recent protest held against the petrol and diesel price hike.
The text written on the placard in Hindi reads, ''On petrol diesel, Modi ji is taking 16 rupees and Gehlot 40 rupees, yet Modi, who takes 16 rupees, is their enemy and Gehlot is their friend.'' (Original text in Hindi: ''पेट्रोल डीजल पर मोदी जी १६ रुपये ले रहे है और गेहलोत ४० रुपये फिर भी १६ रुपये लेने वाले मोदी इनका दुश्मन है और गेहलोत इनका दोस्त।''
The prices of petrol and diesel rose for 12 consecutive days before recording a steady price on February 21. Petrol breached the Rs 100 mark last week in Rajasthan's Sri Ganganagar and Madhya Pradesh's Anuppur on February 18.
Archive of the post can be seen here.
Also read: Shiv Sena Fuel Hike Protest Peddled As Bajrang Dal Protesting Farm Laws
Fact Check
BOOM ran a reverse image search and found that the original image of the man holding a placard with a pro- Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) message is available on the internet since 2019 and could ascertain that the text of the placard has been edited and placed.
We found old tweets from December 2019 with the same image when the anti-CAA protests took place. The text of the placard was in support of the CAA .
Archive can be seen here.
Placard edited with separate slogans
We also found tweets from August 2020 carrying the same image, however with a different slogan written on it. The image went viral during a massive protest against Sushant Singh Rajput's death. We found the image with a tweet by a fan account of Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami that reads, ''#DemocracyDemandCBIForSSR SHAME ON MUMBAI POLICE. ONLY CBI FOR SSR #SushantSinghRajputCase''
Archive of the tweets can be seen here and here.
We found another Facebook post from January 25, 2021 which carried the same image however with a separate slogan on the placard; which ascertains that the image has been edited several times with separate slogans to support narratives. BOOM however could not verify the original image.
Gehlot clarifies on fuel price rise in Rajasthan
The current price of petrol in Rajasthan is at Rs 97 per litre and price of diesel is at Rs 89.44 per litre as of today. Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on February 20 blamed the Centre for the rising fuel prices for the past 11 days. He further clarified about claims that stated that Rajasthan levies highest tax on fuel prices. He said, "Some people spread rumours that the Rajasthan government imposes the highest tax on petrol, so the price is high here. Petrol in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh is taxed more than Rajasthan, so the price of petrol in Jaipur is less than Bhopal."
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