Not So ‘Local’ After All: Meet the People Who Tried to Violently End the Farmers’ Protest – By Alishan Jafri 

On January 28, a mob of angry protesters carrying the Indian flag and shouting slogans like “Desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko (Shoot the traitors of the nation)”, “Khalistaniyon ko bhagao (Chase away the Khalistanis)” and “Delhi police lath bajao, hum tumhare saath hain (Beat them up Delhi police, we are with you)”, stormed the farmers’ sit-in at the Singhu border. The mob reportedly destroyed tents, hurled petrol bombs and ransacked a community kitchen run by farmers.

This resulted in violent skirmishes and stone-pelting between the two groups. Most mainstream media organisation called this mob a group of “locals”, who were enraged by alleged separatists replacing the Indian flag with a “Khalistani flag” at the Red Fort (a claim that several fact-checkers have disputed; …).

As the news of armed raids at the Singhu protest site spread, independent journalists quickly pointed out that Bharatiya Janata Party supporters had disguised themselves as “locals” on the day. Many actual locals have levelled the same allegations in several ground reports….

Source https://thewire.in/communalism/farmers-protest-locals-bjp-hindutva