In the backdrop of ongoing farmers' protest against the contentious farm laws, an image has surfaced on social media showing a young man in a saffron turban with a placard in his hands demanding the release of separatist Kashmiri leaders. With the image, it is being claimed that it is a scene from the ongoing farmers' agitation.

BJP member named Naveen Kumar shared the image on Twitter with a caption in Hindi that can be roughly translated to, "In the last three decades, terrorists have snatched away many a people from the lap of their mothers. When Hurriyat leaders stood in support of those terrorists, the heart cried a lot. Now that Narendra Modi has locked them up in jail, youth in the farmers' protest want them released. Seeing this, the soul of their ancestors would also cry."

The viral image is also doing rounds on Facebook with a similar caption.

The text written on the placard seen in the viral image reads,  "Release All Mainstream and Pro-Freedom Kashmiri leadership". One can also see 'Dal Khalsa and SAD Amritsar' written on the bottom of the poster.

The truth behind the claim 

In our investigation, we found this claim to be false. This viral image dates back to December 2019, when Dal Khalsa and SAD (Amritsar) took out a rally from Amritsar to observe World Human Rights Day. The organizers wanted to march till Srinagar but were stopped at the Jammu border.

With the help of reverse image search, we found this viral image carried in an article on "babushahi.com" on March 11, 2020. The article was also shared on the Dal Khalsa Twitter page on the same date. 

India Today reached out to Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh who confirmed that the picture is from a Dal Khalsa march held in December 2019. Kanwar Pal Singh said, "The picture in circulation is from a march by Dal Khalsa and SAD (Amritsar) from Amritsar to Srinagar. We were planning to observe World Human Rights Day by holding a sit-in at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on December 10. However, the march was stopped at Madhopur-Kathua interstate border on December 9. The man in the picture is Angad Singh from Srinagar. He was in Amritsar at the time and decided to join our march."

India Today also reached out to the person seen in the image, Angad Singh, who said, "I am the person seen in this picture. This image has been circulating on social media with different claims since 2019. I was doing a diploma course from Amritsar in 2019. When Dal Khalsa organized a march to Srinagar, I joined them. This picture was clicked on December 9, 2019, at Pathankot border."

In conclusion, an old unrelated image from December 2019 captured during Dal Khalsa and SAD (Amritsar) rally is being falsely linked to the ongoing farmers' protest in the national capital.