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Fact Check: The Viral Image Of Farmer Injured During Protest Is Not Of Captain PPS Dhillon (Retd.)
Writer: Yusha Rahman
Yusha, an engineer turned journalist with a core interest in sensible journalism. Since the time she worked in an MNC, she saw how fake news was rife to malign images of communities, leaders, etc. This encouraged her to give up her career in MNC and passionately work towards curbing fake news and propaganda.
India, 3 Dec 2020 12:00 PM GMT
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Two unrelated images have gone viral on social media with the claim that they are the same person – a retired Army officer who was injured during the ongoing farmers’ protest.
Juxtaposed image of Sikh army personnel and the other of a Sikh farmer injured during the protest in Delhi is being shared on social media. The images are being shared with the claim that both images are of the same man; one when he worked in the army and the other when he is working as a farmer.
The image is being shared in context with the ongoing farmers' protest in Delhi against the three farm bills passed by the Parliament of India in September 2020. The farm Bills which many consider are anti-farmers were approved by the President Ram Nath Kovind on September 28, 2020. Since then, farmers, especially from Punjab, have been agitating saying, now they will be devoid of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) which worked in their favour.
Member of Indian Youth Congress, Aakaash Mahant shared the image with the caption, "Retired Captain of Indian Army's Sikh regiment, Captain PPS Dhillon would have never thought that when he would raise his voice in the role of a farmer, the people of the IT Cell of BJP would call him Khalistani and a terrorist. Shame on these IT Cell people who are maligning the image of our brave sons for posts and tweets worth Rs 2.
भारतीय सेना की सिख रेजिमेंट से रिटायर कैप्टन #PPSDhillon ने कभी सोचा नहीं होगा कि जब वो किसान की भूमिका में अपने हक़ के...
Posted by Aakash Mahant on Monday, 30 November 2020
The post is viral on Facebook. Many people are sharing it to show the police brutality against the farmers who are protesting in Delhi.
The same post is also rife on Twitter.
Claim:
Both the images are of the same person who once served the Indian Army and is now a farmer protesting against government's farm bills.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian did a Google reverse image search of the photo of army personnel and found the same photo was published on a Facebook group, "Sikh Military History Forum" by Sukhwinder Singh Sarpanch Uboke, who claimed to be the son of the army personnel. He shared the photo on November 29, with the caption, "Today is my father's birthday, Hon. Captain Pirthipal Singh Dhillon, Retired in 1993, 17 Sikh regiments. He is one of those soldiers who fought the battles of 1965,1971 and 1989-90(Sri Lanka). God bless you Dad."
Sukhwinder Singh Sarpanch Uboke had also shared the image of him and his father on his Facebook timeline.
Today is my father's birthday
Hon. Captain pirthipal Singh Dhillon
Retired in 1993 , 17 sikh regiment
He is the part...
Posted by Sukhwinder Singh Sarpanch Uboke on Sunday, 29 November 2020
The name written on the cake is Captain, PPS Dhillon. Thus, It is confirmed that the image being shared is of Captain PPS Dhillon, who is retired army personnel and worked in the Sikh Regiment of Indian Army.
The Quint spoke to the son of PPS Dhillon and Sukhwinder Singh confirmed that the viral photo of army personnel is his father and he is not in the protest. He said, "I had uploaded the photo on the 'Sikh Military History Forum' from where some miscreant has picked up the picture to make these false posts. My father is at home and hasn't been injured."
A Twitter user Amit Kumar had shared the video of the injured farmer on November 29, the same day when PPS Dhillon's son had uploaded the image of his father, so one thing to conclude here is that PPS Dhillon was not in the protest and is not injured.
'Shame' is a small word for you !! Take back your farmers' against Bill..
— AMIT KUMAR (@AMITKUM930) November 29, 2020
More power to our #Farmers
" RESPECT FARMERS "#SupportFarmers #IStandWithFarmers #FarmersProtest pic.twitter.com/LYmjscvW5N
While we were not able to identify the injured farmer but we could evidently conclude that the injured farmer is not Retired Army Captain, PPS Dhillon.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.
Also Read: Fact Check: Old Image Of Banner Condemning Modi And Yogi Shared As Ongoing Farmers' Protest In Delhi
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