Fact Check: Edited photo shows farm leader Rakesh Tikait's face smeared with black ink
A photo showing Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait’s face smeared with black ink has gone viral on social...
By Newsmeter Network Published on 10 April 2021 4:55 AM GMT
Hyderabad: A photo showing Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait's face smeared with black ink has gone viral on social media. It is being claimed that the people of Rajasthan threw ink at the leader while he was addressing a gathering in Harsora village.
A Facebook user who shared the photo wrote, "Went to shut down India but the Rajasthan public threw ink on his face after raining slaps and kicks (sic)."
However, NewsMeter found that this claim is false as the viral image has been edited and passed on with a misleading narrative.
Fact Check:
We performed a reverse image and found a video by ANI that shows a similar setting (0: 30 seconds). In the video, Tikait and the people standing beside him are wearing the same outfits as in the viral image. However, Tikait's face is not covered in black ink.
The same image was tweeted by ANI and here too no ink appears on Tikait's face. This interview with ANI was geotagged at the Delhi border.
A comparison of the original image with the edited image can be seen below.
There are no news reports of an ink attack against Tikait or his supporters.
A similar ink incident took place when Tikait was on his way to a gathering in Harsora village in Rajasthan. The farmer leader's convoy was attacked in Tatarpur village of Alwar district. Protesters reportedly broke the windows of his car with sticks and threw black ink. (Read here)
Although an ink attack incident did take place against Tikait in Rajasthan, however, the viral image is not from the incident. Tikait's photo has been edited to show that he was attacked and his face smeared with ink. Hence, the claim is misleading.
