The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has come up with yet another fake news, by falsely linking a farmers’ organisation with the RSS. In a report published by BBC Hindi on the stubble burning that is causing massive pollution in North India, they mentioned that Bharatiya Kisan Union is associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which is not correct. BBC Hindi mentioned this lie in a report quoting Jansatta, and the Jansatta report also mentions in its headline that BKU is related with RSS.

The report states that Bharatiya Kisan Union has said that they have no other option other than burning stubble if they don’t receive a subsidy from the government. The union says that the farmers will stop burning the husk left in the file after harvesting paddy only after they receive ₹200 per quintal as a bonus or financial assistance to take alternate measures to dispose of the stubble. Along with this, BKU is demanding the release of farmers arrested by Punjab government for burning stubble which illegal as per law. The union also said that it is unhappy over the Supreme Court order banning stubble burning.

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At the end of the short report, BBC Hindi adds, ‘it may be noted that Bharatiya Kisan Union is an organisation related to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’. But this is a lie, because the farmers’ organisation associated with RSS is Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), not the BKU. Although they have similar names, they are completely different organisations. BKU was set up by well-known farmer leader late Mahendra Singh Tikait, and currently, the organisation is led by his son Naresh Tikait.

Read: The BBC research on ‘fake news’ is shoddy, unethical, dishonest, and actually an example of fake news

BKU has no relation with the RSS, and in fact, RSS affiliated farmers’ organisation BKS does not agree with BKU in many cases. Last year Bharatiya Kisan Sangh had stayed away from the farmers’ protests led by Bharatiya Kisan Union. BKS had said that they can’t align with BKU as they have made their political ambitions clear.

Please see the live telecast of S. Bhupinder Singh Mann Ex MP, National President of BKU, Chairman of All India Kisan Coordination Committee. BKU decides to support @INCIndia

After evaluating the Manifesto of #BJPSankalpPatr2019, INC https://t.co/dvtOFfkuyY — Bhartiya Kisan Union (@BKU_KisanUnion) April 15, 2019

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, Bharatiya Kisan Union had announced support for Congress party. BKU national president S. Bhupinder Singh Mann had said that they had decided to support Congress after evaluating the manifestos of both BJP and Congress. BKU is associated with All India Kisan Coordination Committee (KCC), which had also supported the Congress party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Former Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar had attended a BKU rally in September 2018 in Lucknow, and as per media reports, he did it as per instructions of then party president Rahul Gandhi.

This clearly shows that BKU maintains a close association with the Congress party, but sections of media is hiding that fact and linking them with RSS in an attempt to defame RSS, as BKU is refusing to stop burning stubble.