Did Farmers Beat Up BJP MP Sunny Deol Over Farm Laws? No, Old Video Viral With False Claim!

Farmers have been protesting against the three farm laws for the last few months. Along with the protest, the farmers have announced a boycott of politicians associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP). The actor turned politician Sunny Deol is one such politician who has displeased the protesting farmers by not commenting on farm laws.

Against this backdrop, a video of Sunny Deol is widely shared on social media. In the video, Deol can be seen surrounded by a vast crowd that is shoving and pushing while the security officers are trying to cover and protect him. The video is shared with the claim that the angry farmers have beaten Sunny Deol for not commenting against the farm laws despite being a Punjabi farmer's son himself.

The video with the claim is widely shared on Facebook with the captions referring to one of Sunny Deol's Bollywood films;

A Facebook user shared the video and captioned in Hindi, "ब्रेकिंग: गुरुदासपुर ढाई किलो का हाथ भी काम नहीं आया, भाजपा सांसद सनी देओल को किसानों ने बेआबरू करते हुए गुरुद्वारे से बाहर किया। वो वहां एक रोड शो के लिए गए हुए थे।" Its English translation reads, "Even the hand of two and a half kilos did not work, BJP MP Sunny Deol was thrown out of the gurdwara by the farmers in disarray. He was there for a roadshow."

Another Facebook user shared the video and captioned in Hindi, "भाई पंजाब के किसानों ने आज ढाई किलो के हाथ वाले Sunny Deol को भी पीट दिया!". ढाई किलो के हाथ वाले को तो आज किसानों ने कातिया का कुत्ता बना दिया किसानों ने...अब यह साहब पाकिस्तान अपनी ससुराल जा सकते हैं!" English translation, "The farmers of Punjab today beat up Sunny Deol, who had two and a half kilos of hand! Today the farmers made two and a half kilos of hand man a dog of Katia. Now, this sir can go to his in-laws' house in Pakistan!

Sunny Deol is BJP's member of parliament from the Gurdaspur constituency in Punjab state. And the majority of farmers protesting against the three farm laws are from Punjab and Haryana states.

Claim:

Farmers protesting against the three farm laws thrashed Sunny Deol.

Fact Check-

The Logical Indian fact-check team verified the claim and found it to be false. The video shared is from the campaign of the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

We did a Google reverse image search using different keyframes from the video. It led us to a video report by the Indian express published on Youtube on 2 May 2019. The report is titled "Sunny Deol Hits Campaign Trail, Offers Prayers at Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak".

In the video, Deol is surrounded by a vast crowd. During the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign, Deol went to Gurdaspur Gurdwara, where his fans began shoving to see the actor once. He was accompanied by security officers who covered and protected him in the crowd.

We also looked for media reports which mentioned any clash between Sunny Deol and farmers or Sunny Deol beaten by the farmers. We could not find any such statement. If the claim had been valid, it would have been covered in Indian media.

However, we did find a report of the Indian Express dated 20 September 2020, which stated that the farmers had announced a social boycott of Sunny Deol.

The report quotes Jagmohan Singh Patiala, BKU (Ekta) Daukunda general secretary saying, "We are especially hurt with Deol who did not stand by the farmers despite being a farmer's son. Now the voters are feeling cheated and will think twice before voting for an actor in future."

Evidently, an old video of Sunny Deol from the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign is passed off with a fake claim that the farmers have beaten him.

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: Finance Minister Says UPA Issued Oil Bonds Behind Fuel Price Hike. Is It True?