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| - Fact Check: Six-year-old picture goes viral as plight of migrants during lockdown
Migrant labourers have been among the worst affected sections in India due to the lockdown. With production and construction activities halted, lack of money and food has forced lakhs of desperate migrants across India to reach for their homes on foot in the absence of proper transportation.
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India Today Fact Check
Though it is true that the condition of migrants in the lockdown is appalling, but this photo is at least six years old.
Migrant labourers have been among the worst affected sections in India due to the lockdown. With production and construction activities halted, lack of money and food has forced lakhs of desperate migrants across India to reach for their homes on foot in the absence of proper transportation.
Internet is full of videos and images showing the plight of migrants in these trying times. One such picture of a woman cycling with a baby tied on her back is also going viral, with social media users claiming this is how hard life is for migrants during lockdown.
Vinod Jakhar, who claims to be the national secretary of Congress’ students’ wing NSUI, tweeted this picture with a caption in Hindi that translates to, “Rise above politics. Do not be insensitive. See and feel the pain of these migrants.”
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claim along with the photo to be misleading. The photo is at least six years old and has nothing to do with the lockdown and subsequent migrant crisis.
Among others, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala also tweeted the photo with the caption “New India ka sach (Truth of New India)”. He later deleted the tweet after social media users pointed out that the photo is old.
This picture with the misleading caption is being widely on Facebook too. The archive version of the post can be seen here.
AFWA investigation
Using a combination of reverse search and Google advance search, we found that a Facebook user had posted this picture on July 1, 2014. This proves that the picture has no relation with the lockdown.
According to image sharing service Pinterest, this picture is from Nepalgunj in Nepal. India Today could not independently verify the location of the picture but it is certain that the picture has been available on the Internet for many years.
Tragic condition of migrants in India
Though this particular picture is old and misrepresented, but the condition of migrants during lockdown is indeed appalling. Migrants have been walking for hundreds of kilometres with little food and water for days to reach their homes.
Patna: Migrant workers seen walking on foot towards their homes in different districts of Bihar amid #CoronavirusLockdown. A worker says, "I started walking from Delhi 20 days ago for my home in Katihar district". pic.twitter.com/ZQ7ynow2I5 — ANI (@ANI) May 14, 2020
Many have also lost their lives in accidents. At Auraiya in Uttar Pradesh, 27 migrant workers were killed in a trailer-truck collision, while in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, 16 migrants were run over by a goods train, outlining the tragedy and scale of India’s migrant crisis.
See | Migrants on the move: A crisis in photos
Read | Coronavirus numbers soaring, new plan in place to contain large outbreak
Watch | Coronavirus hits Maharashtra Police department| Here's how cops are dealing with crisis
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