Old Image Shared as Chandigarh Police Using Force Against Farmers

The original photo is from 2015 when cops lathi-charged protestors in Patiala, Punjab.

A photo is shared on Twitter that shows an elderly woman being dragged by the police. The claim says that it is shameful that Chandigarh police is treating civilians in an "inhumane" way and links the photo with the farmers' protest, which has been going on against the three contentious farm laws.

However, The Quint's WebQoof team found that the photo is from 2015 when cops lathi-charged farmers in Patiala, Punjab, opposing the district administration's move to take possession of Panchayat land.

CLAIM

The claim along with the photo reads, "Chandigarh police are you guys even shamed to treat the civilians who promise to protect in this inhumane way? (sic)"

Several social media users on Twitter shared the photo and the archived links can be found here, here, and here.

WHAT WE FOUND

On conducting a reverse image search on Yandex, we found that the same photo was used in an article published by Hindustan Times on 7 August 2015.

The article read that 12 farmers and three cops were injured when the police lathi-charged villagers at Hariaua village in Patiala as farmers opposed the district administration’s move to take control over the panchayat land in the village.

We also found another article by The Tribune that also used the now viral photo. The caption read, "Policewomen take a protester into custody at Hariau Kalan village in Patran on Thursday."

It must be noted that farmers have been protesting against the three controversial farm laws – the Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act – since March 2020.

On 26 June, a large number of farmers marched towards the governor's residence in Chandigarh to submit a memorandum seeking repeal of the farm laws. News reports and visuals from the ground showed protesters pushing barricades in Haryana's Panchkula to move forward.

However, this image is not from the ongoing protests.

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