Fact Check: Video of 'jawans' protesting not related to current Assam-Mizoram border crisis
A video of home guards protesting in Silchar ahead of the second phase of the 2021 Assembly elections in Assam has surfaced online
By Newsmeter Network Published on 31 July 2021 4:39 AM GMT
Hyderabad: A video of home guards protesting in Silchar ahead of the second phase of the 2021 Assembly elections in Assam has surfaced online with the claim that these are the current visuals of jawans protesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The video has been shared with a caption in Bangla which reads, "Thousands and thousands of jawans are quitting their job and leaving for home in Silchar. Shouting slogans 'Go back to Modi', 'Remove Modi and save the country'."
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Fact Check:
The claim is false.
NewsMeter extracted the keyframes of the video and performed a reverse image search. We found a report by Northeast Live uploaded on YouTube on 31 March 2021. According to the report that carried similar visuals, around 2,000 home guards who had come from different parts of Assam to Cachar for poll duty went back to their homes alleging deprivation of proper lodging facilities as well as non-payment of dues.
The same video was also posted on Facebook by Northeast Live, a north-east based news channel. Same people are also seen in the video report (timestamp 0:39-42) by Pratidin Time, a news outlet of Assam.
Secondly, we found a report by Hindustan Times with the headline "Assam: 1,500 home guards cite mistreatment, threaten to leave ahead of polling". The report said around 1,500 home guards came to the Cachar district in Assam after being deployed for the first phase of the Assam Assembly elections. However, they complained that the local administration did not arrange proper food, shelter, and water for them. Also, they claimed that they were supposed to get ₹5,100 for three days of duty but the Cachar administration gave them only ₹900.
Further, Barak Bulletin also reported that around 1,500 home guards had walked more than 15 kilometers from National Automotive Testing and R&D infrastructure (NATRiP) to Silchar railway station during the protest.
Hence, the claim that the video shows jawans protesting against Prime Minister Modi and is related to the current Assam-Mizoram border crisis is false. The video is from the 2021 Assam Assembly polls when over 1,500 home guards protested against poor living conditions and mistreatment.
