Video of modified tractor is from Turkey, unrelated to ongoing Indian farmers' protest
- Published on February 27, 2024 at 07:28
- 3 min read
- By Asma HAFIZ, AFP India
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The 13-second clip of a tractor with a protective cage over it has been reposted 2,800 times since it was shared on X here on February 13, 2024.
"These purportedly poor farmers can afford to modify their tractors but also demand pensions and other stuff from the GoI. It's evident that this protest against the Modi government is politically motivated," reads part of the caption.
Indian farmers from the northern Punjab state have attempted to advance towards the country's capital Delhi to demand the government expand a scheme guaranteeing a minimum price on staple crops like rice and wheat to cover all produce.
The protest hopes to replicate the year-long siege of highways into the capital that pressured Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government into abandoning its agricultural reform plans in 2021.
But police have kept the miles-long column of farmers atop agricultural machinery at bay with a barricade of metal spikes and concrete and tried to disperse them with tear gas.
The video has been shared more than 1,300 times alongside similar false claims on X here, as well as on Facebook here.
But the tractor was modified by a farmer in Turkey.
Video from Turkey
A Google reverse image search using a keyframe from the video found it was shared by an agriculture-focused Instagram account based in Turkey on January 31, 2024 (archived link).
The Turkish-language caption states the clip is an original belonging to the user.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video shared in false posts (left) and the clip uploaded on Instagram (right):
The Instagram user, who goes by the name Emirhan, confirmed he shot the video.
"I am from Samsun. I use the tractor in the hazelnut garden all the time, so I had it built this way to protect it from the hazelnut branches," he told AFP.
Samsun is a coastal city in Turkey (archived link).
The video features other elements including the tractor's model name, Hattat 260 G, and a yellow sign reading "Çelik Akü" that indicate the video was filmed in Turkey.
Hattat Group is a Turkey-based automotive and construction machinery corporation, while Çelik Akü is an automobile battery company with outlets across the country (archived links here and here).
Below are screenshot images of the tractor's model name (left) and the yellow signboard (right), marked by AFP:
Misinformation has swirled around the Indian farmers' protest, debunked by AFP here and here.
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