Fact Check: Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait attacked in Karnataka recently? No, video is from 2022

Hyderabad: Farmers in India are intensifying protests, demanding legal guarantees for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and fair compensation for land acquisitions. On December 4, Rakesh Tikait was detained en route to a Greater Noida meeting with farmer leaders. The ‘Dilli Chalo’ march was halted on December 8 after Haryana Police deployed tear gas and water cannons.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court, on December 9, dismissed a plea seeking to clear blockades in Punjab caused by ongoing farmer protests.

In this context, a collage of three clips involving Rakesh Tikait has gone viral on social media. The first shows a man attacking him with a wired microphone, the second captures ink being thrown on his face and the third shows Tikait in tears.

A Facebook user shared the clips on December 6, claiming Tikait was assaulted the day before in Karnataka. The caption read, “Those doing drama were taught a lesson in Karnataka yesterday.” (Translated from Hindi)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading, as the first two clips are from the same event in Karnataka in 2022 and the third clip is from 2021.

Clips 1 and 2

We conducted a keyword search based on clues from the viral clips and found a video report by NDTV published on May 30, 2022, titled ‘Mic, Ink Attack On Rakesh Tikait In Bengaluru, Then All Hell Breaks Loose.’

While the report featured the same visuals, the channel stated that Rakesh Tikait was attacked with a microphone and then had ink thrown at him during a press meeting in Bengaluru. The police had detained three people in connection with the incident.

We also found the same visuals published by Hindustan Times and India Today on May 30, 2022. Both media outlets reported the vandalism and the attack on Rakesh Tikait that took place during a press meet in Bengaluru.

Clip 3

The viral clip showed Tikat speaking to India Today while crying. Taking this cue, we ran a keyword search and found the same visuals in a report by India Today published on January 29, 2021, titled ‘Farmers Protest: Rakesh Tikait's Tears Become Turning Point, Crowd Returns To Ghazipur.’

According to the channel, the protest site at Ghazipur witnessed farmers refusing to leave, defying orders from the Uttar Pradesh government. The situation escalated when Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait broke down and declared a hunger strike. His emotional outburst is said to have renewed the dwindling farmers' protest.

Hence, we conclude that the viral clips are not recent. Social media claiming that the clips show a recent attack on farmer leader Rakesh Tikait is misleading.