An outrageous fake news about bombs being dropped at protest sites was peddled by Trolley Times recently on social media. The newsletter dedicated to the ‘farmer protests’ credited a ‘ground report’ by one Sangeet Toor for that piece of false information.
According to her Twitter profile, she is currently based in Washington DC. However, it appears she is India currently covering the ‘farmer protests’.
We attempted to learn more about Sangeet Toor given the international campaign against India that is currently underway. We soon discovered that her columns have appeared at far-left media outlets such as The Caravan and The Wire.
In her column for The Caravan, she has covered the protests focusing on the participation of women. The media portal, which is accused of spreading fake news to incite violence during the Republic Day riots, described her as “a cybersecurity analyst and writer based in Chandigarh. She is currently documenting the history of land rights and peasant struggles in Punjab.”
In her column for The Wire, Sangeet Toor wrote, “Punjabi youth have made it loudly clear that they want to be led by mature, pro-people and pro-democracy leaders. Not surprisingly then, it was the activists of Bharat Kisan Union Ugrahan from Punjab who were the first to participate in the Shaheen Bagh protests and to protest the revocation of Article 370.”
One of her columns that was originally published on the Trolley Times was reproduced by The Wire.
Sangeet Toor has also made an appearance for an interview at the Shere Punjab Radio, which is headquartered in British Columbia, Canada, to speak about the ‘farmer protests’.
She also appeared at an event organised by the Jakara Movement on the 13th of January where she was described as a freelance journalist. The movement describes itself as a “grassroots community-building organization working to empower, educate, and organize Punjabi Sikhs, and other marginalized communities; to advance their health, education, and economic, social, and political power.”
Sangeet Toor also participated in a “celebration of the music about the farmers struggles against the 2020 farm laws.”
She has also written movie reviews at Film Companion.
According to Trolley Times, it was Sangeet Toor who provided the information about bombs being dropped at a protest site, which is ostensibly false. The Delhi Police has also responded to the false claim and said, “The claim of dropping improvised bombs by drone is a figment of imagination.”