schema:text
| - Fact Check: Karnataka Congress workers DIDN'T burn themselves while setting Modi effigy on fire
India Today found that this 2012 video shows Kerala Students Union activists burning the effigy of the vice-chancellor of a university.
Listen to Story
India Today Fact Check
The 2012 video is from Pathanamthitta, Kerala, and shows Kerala Students Union activists protesting against the vice chancellor of MG University.
A video making the rounds on social media purports to show Karnataka Congress workers accidentally setting themselves on fire while attempting to burn Prime Minister Narendra Modi in effigy.
Sharing the video, an X user wrote, “Lungi of five Congressmen caught fire while burning Modi's effigy in Karnataka! See how all this happened. Now Modi ji's effigies have also started teaching a lesson. This is Modi ji power.” Its archive can be seen here.
India Today found that this 2012 video from Kerala shows student activists burning the effigy of MG University’s vice-chancellor.
Our Probe
A reverse search of keyframes from the viral video led us to a Facebook post containing the same video but of better quality, dated September 1, 2012. The post claimed that the clip was from Kerala. We also observed shop signages written in Malayalam in this video.
As per the report, Kerala Student Union workers were burning the vice chancellor of MG University in effigy, and while doing so, their clothes also caught fire. In the video, the protesters can also be seen carrying KSU flags.
We also found a Times of India report from July 2012 that noted students were protesting the vice chancellor of MG University over alleged corruption charges. The report added that some protesters were injured in the fire and were hospitalised.
Thus, it's more than clear that a 12-year-old video of student protests from Kerala was falsely shared as an anti-Modi protest by the Congress in Karnataka.
Please share it on our at 73 7000 7000
You can also send us an email at factcheck@intoday.com
|