CLAIMJournalist CJ Werleman, who claims to be an activist against
Islamophobia
, tweeted a 2-minute-long video accusing Indian mainstream media outlets for not showing the true picture of
Kashmir amidst the lockdown post abrogation of
Article 370.
The video tweeted by Werleman showed a large number of masked men throwing stones at security forces, and the forces, in retaliation, using tear gas to dispel them.
Couple of masked men, when interviewed by the cameraperson recording the video, said they were fighting for Sharia (Islamic law) and Khilafat (pan-Islamist political protest).
Tweeting this video, Werleman wrote, “Indian mainstream media outlets continue to push Modi's lie about
Kashmiris
welcoming thousands of more Indian troops and the accompanying lockdown. You make up your mind," thereby implying that Kashmiris were aggressively protesting against Indian government’s decision to abrogate Article 370.
Werleman later deleted this tweet, but not before it had gone massively viral with many retweets and views running into thousands.
His tweet was also picked up by several other Facebook pages, who posted the same video with the same claim.
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TRUTHThe video used by Werleman to show clashes between Kashmiri locals and security forces is not a recent one. It is from the year 2017.
VERIFICATION AND METHODOLOGYThe video tweeted by Werleman carried watermark of Ruptly. We went through the YouTube library of Ruptly and traced the same video they had shared on May 15, 2017.
The video was titled ‘India: Police and protesters in running battles during latest
Srinagar protest’.
The description of the video read, “Clashes broke out between police and protesters outside a college campus in Srinagar. Police used tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets to repel protesters, who in turn retaliated with volleys of rocks and canisters that were originally fired by the police.”
VERDICTTimes Fact Check has found that CJ Werleman tweeted a video from 2017 to claim clashes took place between security forces and Kashmiris post revocation of Article 370.