New Delhi: The photographs of two Army men are being shared widely on social media, with the claim that one of the soldiers went to meet his father at the farmers’ protest site at the Delhi borders. The photos, placed side-by-side, show the two men in uniform.
“The son in Army, when back on leave, straight lands at Delhi border where his father (farmer) is protesting for last 75 days,” read one caption that was shared with the photos on Twitter.
भाई लोग अब क्या कहियेगा … अब तो मान जाओगे कि किसान ही हैं …. pic.twitter.com/CRQel7Dsmk
— Rohitt Saxena 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳 (@merohittsaxena) February 9, 2021
The photos were also shared by the President of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, on 7 February. It has been liked by more than 600 people.
मेरे ध्यान में लाया गया है कि फौजी अपने किसान पिता से मिलते हुए की ये फ़ोटो दिल्ली बॉर्डर की नहीं बल्कि लुधियाना की है
पर जहाँ की भी है किसान पिता और उसके फ़ौजी बेटे की वतनपरस्ती जगज़ाहिर है
किसानों की देशभक्ति पर सवाल उठाना घटिया सोच
और कितनी बार साबित करें जै जवान जै किसान! https://t.co/xkmbCg0mEp
— Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) February 8, 2021
Another Twitter user named Monika Singh had also shared the images last week, which have been liked by over 13,000 people so far.
फ़ौजी छुट्टी आया तो सीधा बोर्डर पर पहुँच गए अपने पिताजी से मिलनें तो जवानों की आखों में पानी आ गया क्योंकि उनके पिताजी 75 दिनों से बॉर्डर पर किसान आंदोलन में रुके हुए है।
शर्म नहीं आती किसानों को खालिस्तानी कहने वालों को pic.twitter.com/TCx1alTEjE
— Dr Monika Singh – ਮੋਨਿਕਾ ਸਿੰਘ (@MonikaSingh__) February 6, 2021
Shiromani Akali Dal’s spokesperson Charanjit Singh Brar also shared the photos on Facebook with the same claim, that they are from the Delhi borders.
The Punjabi web portal of News 18 also did a brief report on the photos, based on Sirsa’s tweet. “The young soldier became emotional when he met his father, and tears welled up in his eyes. His father has been on the Delhi front for the last 75 days against three agriculture laws,” the report said.
Fact check
ThePrint has found that in some of the replies to the tweets, users have claimed the photos are from a Ludhiana bus stand.
On checking the images carefully via Google Maps, similarities were found between the photos and the Ludhiana bus stand. A high-resolution picture shared by one user on Google Maps showed that the billboards in the two images, the colour of the building in their background and a FedEx board can also be seen in the Ludhiana bus stand.
Sirsa Monday said that he has been notified about the image not being from Delhi, but Ludhiana. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi had also shared the tweet on 6 February, but deleted it later.
(In collaboration with SM Hoaxslayer)
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