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| - Fact Check: 2016 'langar' image from Canada shared as recent free food truck set up in Ukraine
A photo of a food truck is going viral with the claim that it shows a 'langar' service being run by the Sikh community in war-torn Ukraine.
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India Today Fact Check
This image is from Canada which first appeared on the internet in December 2016. This free-food truck was part of a drive named "Good-Bye Hunger" – started in Toronto in October 2016 by the "Sikh Sewa Dal Society." However, there are reports of the Sikh community offering free food in some places of Ukraine since the Russian invasion has taken place.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine hasn't only resulted in bloodshed but has left numerous people homeless and hungry. Rising to the occasion, the Sikh Community came forward to feed the victims of the invasion.
An image of a food truck has gone viral on social media claiming it to be run by Sikhs in Ukraine. The white-coloured food truck is seen "Guru Nanak's Langar Good Bye Hunger" written on it. A few people are also seen having food in front of it.
Many social media users shared this image alongside a caption in Hindi that read, "Whenever humanity faced disaster, the Sikh community stands in the forefront. The Sikh community has now set up "Guru's Langar" in Ukraine. Kudos to them."
Dainik Bhaskar also posted this image on Twitter with the caption, "Salute to the spirit of service: The Sikh Community has set up Langar in war-torn areas of Ukraine, foods are being served in the trains too."
Archived versions of similar claims can be seen here and here.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found this image alongside this caption to be misleading.
Although the Sikh Community distributed free food to war-affected people in Ukraine, this image was taken in Canada almost 6 years ago.
AFWA Probe
Reports said Ukrainian civilians took shelter in metro stations and bunkers to shield themselves from Russian shelling. It was unlikely for a food truck to work with battle-ready tanks and armoured vehicles patrolling the roads.
This gave us the first hint that the picture could be old.
Using reverse search, we tried to find the source of the image. This led us to a Facebook post on a page named "The Desi Stuff" on November 21, 2016. It claimed the food truck to be from the United Kingdom.
When examined, we found a contact number '905 671-0811' inscribed behind the truck. When searching, it took us to a website named Sikh Sewa Society Toronto.
We got the Instagram handle of "Sikh Sewa Society" from the website with several photos of Langar and Punjabi cuisine. Among them was a photo posted on May 13, 2018, with the same building in the background as the viral one. The caption read the place to be Brampton in Canada's Ontario.
However, the food truck used in this image was different. But a further search on the page took us to a post from December 27, 2016, that had an exact model of the truck from the viral photo.
Another Instagram post by this handle made it clear that the Free Food truck drive was started in October 2016 by the Sikh Sewa Dal Society.
Therefore, it is clear that the viral image shared as that of the free food truck in war-hit Ukraine was originally from Canada's Brampton.
(Inputs by Riddhish Dutta)
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