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| - Fact Check: Two-year-old clip of man blackening Hindi text on signboard linked to farmers' stir
A video of a turbaned man blackening the Hindi text on a signboard is circulating on social media with the claim that it is from Punjab, and the real agenda of farmers' protest is to oppose Hindi and Hindus.
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India Today Fact Check
The video was shot at least two years ago at North Zone Cultural Centre in Punjab’s Patiala during a campaign against ‘Hindi imposition’. It has nothing to do with the ongoing farmers’ protest.
A video of a turbaned man blackening the Hindi text on a signboard is circulating on social media with the claim that it is from Punjab where protesters are opposing Hindi language in the backdrop of farmers’ agitation. The claim further says that the real agenda of farmers’ protest is to oppose Hindi and Hindus.
The signboard shows the text “NORTH ZONE CULTURAL CENTRE” written in English and Punjabi too. But the man is seen putting black paint on the Hindi text only.
The caption in Hindi along with the video translates to, “The true face is finally being revealed. After damaging towers, use of Hindi will not be allowed in Punjab. Farmers’ movement is an excuse; the real motive is to oppose Hindi and Hindus. Is this the reality of farmers’ protests? This is the Khalistani movement; terrorists and their sympathisers disguised as farmers. Their agenda is to spread anarchy, topple the Modi government and trouble the common people.”
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claim along with the video to be false. The video is at least two years old and from Punjab’s Patiala. It has nothing to do with the ongoing farmers’ protest.
The video has been shared widely on Facebook and Twitter. The archived version can be seen here.
AFWA investigation
Using Yandex reverse search, we found that the viral video was uploaded in February 2019 on YouTube.
Taking a cue from the signboard, AFWA found that North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC), which comes under the Union Ministry of Culture, is situated in Patiala. We reached out to NZCC director Prof. Saubhagya Vardhan to know more about the video and the incident.
Prof. Vardhan confirmed that the incident took place at NZCC about two years back. He said the person blackened the Hindi text during a campaign across the Chandigarh-Bathinda belt in which protesters were blackening Hindi texts on signboards.
However, Prof. Vardhan couldn’t confirm the identity of the man seen in the video.
On January 9, AFWA did a similar fact-check on some pictures showing people defacing the Hindi text of highway signboards. Here also, it has been claimed that this is happening in Punjab during the farmers’ protest.
We found that the pictures were clicked in October 2017 when some Sikh groups smudged signboards on the Bathinda-Faridkot road seeking Punjabi language to be on the top on signboards.
(With inputs from Munish Kaushal in Patiala)
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