Fact Check: Massive protest against Amit Shah for remark on Ambedkar? No, viral video is old
Claim: The video shows a massive protest against Amit Shah’s statement on Dr BR Ambedkar in Parliament.
Fact: The claim is false. The video was from February 2022 and shows a protest by Dalit groups in Bengaluru against a judge.
Hyderabad: Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statements on Dr BR Ambedkar have caused quite a stir with the Opposition protesting for action to be taken against Amit Shah for the remarks.
Amid this, a video claiming to show a massive protest against Amit Shah has gone viral. The video shows a huge protest march on a flyover amid police security.
A Facebook user shared the video and wrote, “Amit Shah should apologize. The fire that has started in the country has now become a volcano, and this volcano is spreading all over the world. There are people who love Baba Saheb Ambedkar all over the world.” (Translated from Hindi) (Archive)
Similar posts can be seen here, and here. (Archive 1, Archive 2)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The video shows a protest march by Dalit groups against a judge.
Using keyframes from the video, we conducted a reverse image search and found an article by The News Minute titled, ‘Ambedkar photo row: Massive protest by Dalit groups in Bengaluru against judge,’ published on February 20, 2022.
The photos from the article and the viral video are identical. Here is a comparison of the TNM photo and the viral video.
The article mentioned that the video is from a protest held in Bengaluru on February 19, 2022. Dalit groups demanded the suspension of a Karnataka district judge who objected to placing Dr Ambedkar’s portrait next to Mahatma Gandhi’s during Republic Day celebrations in Raichur. The massive rally, which clogged the Anand Rao Circle flyover, prompted Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to meet the protesters at Freedom Park.
Through a keyword search, we also found a longer video of the protest on YouTube, posted by SahilOnline TV News on February 20, 2022. The description confirmed it was a Dalit groups protest against the Raichur judge.
Additionally, Asianet News also published a video the same day, reporting heavy protests in Karnataka over the judge’s actions.
Therefore, we conclude that the viral video is not related to a protest against Amit Shah’s statement. It shows a protest from February 2022 by Dalit groups in Bengaluru demanding action against a judge.
(This story was originally published by newsmeter, and republished by english.varthabharati.in as part of the Shakti Collective)
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
