Three Bills related to Agriculture were passed in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in September 2020. The Bills were, Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020. On September 28, 2020, the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind signed all three Bills making them an Act. Since then, farmers are protesting against the Act calling it anti-farmer as they believe these laws will remove the Minimum Support Price system that worked in favour of farmers.
With respect to this, ‘Delhi Chalo’ rally has been organised by All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee, a body with over 200 farmers organisation and farmers started to march towards Delhi on November 26 to attract the attention of centre towards their demand of revoking farm bills. The police of Haryana and Delhi tried to stop these farmers on the border of Haryana and Delhi by using water cannons and teargas. The police also dug trenches at borders to prevent farmers from entering Delhi, the whole report can be read here and here.
In context to this, two images showing the use of water cannons by police are being shared on social media with the claim that they belong to current farmers’ protest.Image 1:
Image 2:
Raghav Chaddha, Delhi’s Rajinder Nagar MLA from Aam Aadmi Party also tweeted the image with the caption, ‘However good a Constitution may be, if those who are implementing it are not good, it will prove to be bad. However bad a Constitution may be, if those implementing it are good, it will prove to be good. – B. R. Ambedkar’.
The Wire journalist Arfa Khanum also shared the image.
Claim:
The Viral images of police using water cannons against the farmers belong to ongoing farmers’ protest in Delhi.
Fact Check:
Image 1:The Logical Indian did a reverse image search of the image using the Storyful tool.
The above image was published by The Hindu on October 2, 2018, and was of the farmers’ protest organised by Bhartiya Kisan Union (Tikait group). This image was of Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border on Ghazipur when the water cannons were used against farmers. The image was also published byThe Times of India. According to the report, the Delhi police used tear gas and water cannon after farmers broke the police barricades during ‘Kisan Kranti Padyatra’ organised on October 2, 2018.
Image 2:The Logical Indian also searched for the second image and found the second image was published in Firstpost. In 2018, farmers protested to get loan waiver and fair prices for crops along with 13 other demands.
ANI had also tweeted about the video of the protest in 2018.
Police did restore to using water cannons and tear gas in current farmers’ protest, yet the viral photos shown above are of farmers protest organised in 2018.
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