Fact Check: Notice outside India Gate is not about farmers' protest
A tweet by American pop star Rihanna on farmer protests in India has led to a storm of comments and questions....
By Satya Priya BN Published on 8 Feb 2021 12:41 PM GMT
Hyderabad: A tweet by American pop star Rihanna on farmer protests in India has led to a storm of comments and questions. Several other foreign celebrities had also tweeted in support drawing global attention to the protests. Meanwhile, an image that appeared to be a notice outside the closed gates of India Gate in Delhi has come into circulation on social media. The viral image claims that the notice outside the India Gate stated, "Sorry India is closed right now. Our government is busy responding to Tweet."
This image has gone viral on all platforms with the hashtags #IndianFarmersHumanRights #IStandWithFarmers #FarmersProstest #Farmers_Lives_Matter
Fact check: The claim that the notice outside India Gate has the viral message is FALSE.
When NewsMeter performed a Google Reverse image search, it was found that the image has been altered digitally. We found several reports showing the original image which was published in March 2020, when COVID-19 hit the country leading to a national lockdown. The original notice read 'India gate closed due to Corona Virus'.
India Gate was closed to visitors in early March 2020 due to lockdown.
The lockdown was imposed in the country till 31 March 2020. This public notice was clicked on 22 March 2020 outside India Gate during the Janta Curfew proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The same image was shared in March 2020 on Twitter too.
It was also published in several other reports regarding Janata Curfew.
https://www.hotstar.com/in/
The viral image has the same picture of the sign but with the text digitally changed. We can also see a person's shadow in the viral image matching with the old image. Here is the comparison.
Therefore, the claim is FALSE. The viral image shared is altered digitally.
