CLAIM
As protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act are gaining momentum across the country, multiple pictures on social media are being shared with a claim that they represent pro-CAA protesters rallying in favour of the act in Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh.
The pictures are being circulated with the caption that read, “CAB র সমর্থনে মহারাষ্ট্র ও হিমাচল প্রদেশে বিশাল শোভাযাত্রা । যা দালাল মার্কা বাংলা মিডিয়া দেখাচ্ছে না।। (Translation: Huge procession in Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh in support of CAB, which the Bengali media is not showing.)”
TRUE OR FALSE?
The Quint can confirm that images have been circulated with a false claim. They do not show people gathering in support of the CAA in Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh.
On conducting a reverse image search on all the pictures, we found out that these are old pictures from Maharashtra. These pictures date back to 2016.
Let’s take a look at all of them one by one.
IMAGE 1
On conducting a simple reverse image search, we found an article by Indian Express with the headline: “Kopardi rape case: Congress rivals in show of strength at Maratha protest rally in Ahmednagar.”
IMAGE 2
This picture was taken at a rally conducted by the Maratha community in Sangli back in 2016.
The Quint came across an article by India Today, which carried the same picture. According to the article, the rally was a protest against the rape and murder of a teenage Maratha girl in Kopardi village in Ahmednagar district in 2016.
IMAGE 3
This image is of the Maratha Karnti Morcha against Kopardi rape case in Jalna back in September 2016.
On conducting a simple reverse image search on the picture, we came across an article by DNA which carried the same image with a headline saying: “Maratha body eyes social media.”
IMAGE 4
A reverse image search on the picture led us to an article by Livemint which had the same picture.
We were not able to identify when the picture was uploaded, but certainly it was available since 2016.
Clearly, a bunch of unrelated pictures have been shared with the claim that the pictures show gatherings in support of the Citizenship Act in Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh, but they are not. These pictures have been in existence way before.
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