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Fact Check: Old News Of Tribal Activist Kuni Sikaka's Arrest Resurfaces On Social Media As Recent
Writer: Yusha Rahman (Fact-Checker)
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, 26 Feb 2021 12:16 PM GMT
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Old news of the arrest of tribal activist Kuni Sikaka is being shared on social media as a recent event. The Logical Indian Fact Check team verifies the claim.
Many people on social media are sharing posts claiming that Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti activist Kuni Sikaka has been arrested. People are sharing two images claiming to be of Kunni Sikaka and of her recent arrest.
One of the posts claims, "Kuni Sikaka, who challenged Vedanta group in constitutional ways and is fighting for many years to save the Niyamgiri mountain, is arrested. Are those who are trying to save the land, forest and environment, guilty in the eyes of the law?"
#वेदांतासमूह को संवैधानिक रास्ते से चुनौती देकर नियमगिरी पहाड़ को बचाने के लिए कई वर्षों से संघर्ष कर रही आदिवासी कुनी सिक्का को गिरफ्तार किया #जल_जमीन_जंगल पहाड़ और पर्यावरण की रक्षा करने वाले लोग क्या सरकार की नजर में अपराधी ?@rashtrapatibhvn @PMOIndia#कुनी_सिक्का_को_रिहा_करो pic.twitter.com/ZWGsbeTw3K
— Aadiwasi Jayesh Bheel (@aadivasiJayesh) February 18, 2021
The post is viral on Facebook.
Twitterati also shared the claim.
#वेदांतासमूह को संवैधानिक रास्ते से चुनौती देकर नियमगिरी पहाड़ को बचाने के लिए कई वर्षों से संघर्ष कर रही आदिवासी कुनी सिक्का को गिरफ्तार किया #जल_जमीन_जंगल पहाड़ और पर्यावरण की रक्षा करने वाले लोग क्या सरकार की नजर में अपराधी ?@rashtrapatibhvn @PMOIndia#कुनी_सिक्का_को_रिहा_करो pic.twitter.com/9vnMAfpa3V
— Aadivasi Dev Ninama (@AADIVASIDEV2258) February 19, 2021
A website Santal Khabar also reported about the arrest of Kuni Sikaka on February 25, 2021.
Claim:
Kuni Sikaka has recently been arrested by police.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian searched and found no such information about the arrest of Kuni Sikaka in the recent past. However, we found multiple media reports from May 2017, which reported the arrest of Kuni Sikaka by Odisha police.
According to a report by Scroll.in published on May 2, 2019, police claimed that they arrested 20-year-old Kuni Sikaka from Gorta village atop the Niyamgiri Hills on May 2, as her name figured in the lists of Maoists prepared for 2017. The Rayagada police had then portrayed Sikaka, her father-in-law, husband and three other relatives as surrendered Maoists. According to the same report, Kuni Sikaka and other arrested were later released after taking an undertaking that they will not indulge in any Maoist activities.
The Logical Indian checked both the viral images.
Image 1: The image claims to be of Kuni Sikaka.
The Logical Indian did a reverse image search and found that the same image was published on Survival International.org, an international website that reports about the atrocities against tribals globally. The report was published on June 29, 2017, and carried the viral image with the caption identifying the lady as Kuni Sikaka. The story was about the custodial death of Bari Pidikaka, a Dongria activist and the arrest of Kuni Sikaka. Hence Image 1 is of Kuni Sikaka.
Image 2: The photo is of a press conference held by police with a tribal girl standing in the back, claiming it is of the recent arrest of Kuni Sikaka.
Image 2 is also present on the website, and it was published on June 28, 2017. The image was captioned, " Since resisting Vedanta's plan to mine their land, many Dongria, including Drimbilli (pictured here) and Kuni, are being systematically arrested and accused of being Maoist guerrillas." Hence, image 2 is also old.
The Logical Indian spoke to a journalist of Sangharsh Samvad, a magazine that closely reports all the protests in the nation. The journalist denied the arrest of Kuni Sikaka. According to the journalist, "No recent arrest has been made in relation to the revolts done by Tribals in Odisha."
We also contacted Shanti Snigdha, an activist working with Jan Pehal and is closely associated with Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti who confirmed that the news is old and Kuni Sikaka has not been arrested recently. Snigdha also told us that there are two recent arrests, but both the accused are arrested under murder charges and not due to the protest.
Hence, old news has resurfaced to claim that the police has recently arrested Kuni Sikaka.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.
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