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| - Fact Check: Not J&K, this video shows clashes between coca farmers and police in Bolivia
According to the AFWA probe, the viral video actually shows a clash between coca farmers and the Bolivian authorities.
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India Today Fact Check
The video is from Bolivia. It shows a clash between coca farmers and the Bolivian authorities — an ongoing issue in the country.
Disturbing footage of violence has been making the rounds on social media. Shot on what appears to be a cellphone, the video shows a street full of people, some of whom appear to be throwing objects at someone or a group outside the frame. Things escalate with a loud bang and one of the people falls amid what looks like a small explosion.
Those sharing the video claimed this scene was from Jammu and Kashmir — security forces retaliating against stone-pelters with bullets.
AFWA Probe
A reverse image search of the video’s frames led us to several Spanish news portals that reported the incident. Per the website of Bolivision TV, this was a recent clash between the coca producers and Bolivian authorities. Per the report, in the video, a protesting coca farmer threw a homemade dynamite stick at the police while holding the other one on another hand. Within a few seconds, the second one burst in his hand, causing him serious injury.
According to local Bolivian media, the man lost his left hand in the explosion.
The same viral video was uploaded by “Unitel Bolivia” on Dailymotion, entitled in Spanish: “Coca grower injured for handling dynamite is in ‘critical situation’".
Bolivia has been witnessing a stand-off between the coca growers and the government for the last couple of weeks. The Bolivian city of La Paz witnessed several clashes between the protesting farmers and the police. Per international media reports, the protesting farmers of the Adepcoca Coca Growers Association are demanding the closure of a “parallel market promoted by a group affiliated to the ruling government”.
The protesters marched and proclaimed that the parallel market was “illegal and enjoys government support”.
Thus, we conclude that this video was not from Jammu and Kashmir, or from India at all. It’s from Bolivia.
(With inputs from Sanjana Saxena)
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