Edited Image of ‘Sikh Without Moustache’ VIral to Discredit Farmers’ Protest

An image of a Sikh man without a moustache is being shared on social media with the claim that a Muslim man was posing as Sikh in the ongoing farmers’ protest. Twitter user Manjeet Bagg wrote, “Where did the moustache of this Sardar ji disappear?” This tweet gained over 3,000 retweets before it was deleted. (archived link)

A parody account of Republic TV anchor Arnab Goswami (@ArnabGofficial7) also tweeted this image.

इन सरदार जी की मूछें कहाँ गईं? pic.twitter.com/VDMxvsTeYQ

— Arnab Goswami ? (@ArnabGofficial7) December 2, 2020

Similarly, several Facebook and Twitter users have posted this image including Twitter users @AchAnkurArya & @_TiwariRekha (archived link 1, 2) and Facebook pages Ugra Hindutva & Krantikari Hindu (archived link 1, 2).

Fact-check

During our research, we found that Facebook Harsit Gupta shared the post by above mentioned Facebook page ‘Ugra Hindutva’. In the comments of Gupta’s post, we found that a user had shared a link to a Facebook Live by the page ‘Hindustan LIVE Farhan Yahiya‘ from Singhu Border where the farmers’ protest is currently going on.

 In the Facebook Live, shot on November 29, we can see that the Sikh man has a moustache. This means that that viral image is edited.

The screenshot has been taken from the 7:29 mark in the Live video.

At the beginning of the Facebook Live, a man says that the visuals are from Nirankari Maidan in Burari, very close to the Singhu border. He added, “Along with many Sikh brothers, people from the Muslim community have also reached here.” He then continues to interview men from Sikh and Muslim communities.

Therefore, an edited screenshot from a Facebook Live by the page Hindustan LIVE Farhan Yahiya was widely shared on the internet. The viral image was shared with the claim that a Muslim man joined the framers’ protest dressed up as a Sikh.

Courtesy: Alt News