Photo From Pro-Khalistan Rally in US Shared as Recent Protests in Punjab

The photo of the Sikh man with a placard was taken in California, USA in January 2021.

A photograph showing a Sikh man holding a placard which reads “Ram Mandir = Horror House” is being shared on social media platforms, claiming that it shows a farmer from Punjab.

The claim comes a few days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cavalcade was stuck on a flyover in Punjab in an alleged security “breach”, blocked by protesters.

However, we were able to trace the photo back to January 2021, when a group of pro-Khalistan Sikhs protested in solidarity with protesting farmers in India, outside the Indian consulate in California’s San Francisco in the United States of America (USA).

CLAIM

The claim identifies the person in the photograph as a farmer from Punjab, and is being shared following the PM’s security breach in the state.

Archived versions of more such claims on Facebook and Twitter can be seen here, here, here, and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We looked up the phrase "Ram Mandir Horror House" across social media platforms and came across a tweet which led us to a post on Reddit.

The post, published on 29 January 2021, noted that the photo showed a pro-Khalistani protester in Silicon Valley, US.

In the comments section of this post, another user shared a link to a CBS news report dated 26 January 2021, that mentioned that the event took place in the Bay Area of San Francisco outside the Indian consulate, amid "continued calls for sovereign nation."

We also came across a tweet by filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri who shared the same visuals, placing the event in the US. Agnihotri also shared a video of the protest.

Take a look at this #FarmersProtest in California. pic.twitter.com/q5aonslJP5

— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) January 29, 2021

Geolocating The Photo

In the clip shared by Agnihotri, a board which reads 'Arguello Pet Hospital' is visible, written on a rainbow-like display. We looked up the name of this place and found that it was located in San Francisco, California.

We also saw that this hospital was right next to the Indian consulate general, as noted in the CBS report.

Using Google Street View, we looked at the surroundings of the consulate and found a visual match from the CBS report.

While we were unable to find the exact photo in any video, we could verify that the image was an old one and was not from Punjab.

Evidently, a photo of a man from a protest that had Khalistan supporters, who protested in solidarity with the farmers' protest in India on 26 January, 2021 in California is being wrongly shared as one showing a farmer from Punjab.

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