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| - Fact Check: Did Bajrang Dal burn Indian flag in Manipur? Here are the facts
This video has been on the internet since as early as August 15, 2022. The flag was likely burned by members of a Manipuri separatist group.
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India Today Fact Check
This video has been on the internet since as early as August 15, 2022, and has been associated with the separatist group PLA Manipur.
A video of a group of men burning the Indian national flag has been making rounds on social media. Allegedly, these were members of the Bajrang Dal from Manipur. A Twitter user wrote, “Bajrang Dal is burning the national flag in Manipur”. The archived version of this tweet can be seen here
The Hindu group recently made national news after the Congress party promised to ban it in Karnataka ahead of Assembly elections in the state. The Bharatiya Janata Party criticised this election promise on several occasions.
India Today, however, found that the viral video does not feature Bajrang Dal members and is likely related to a separatist group in Manipur.
Source of the video
We noticed a logo in the top right corner of the video. Using a keyword search, we found a longer version of this video on YouTube uploaded on March 19. In this video, we noticed a logo similar to the one in the viral video. At the very beginning of the video, the Facebook media player interface was visible. It contained the account name NingtamPaojel and the date, August 15, 2022.
We then found the Facebook page called NingtamPaojel, and there, we found the viral video shared on August 15, 2022.
What is being said in the video?
Babina Wahengbam, an India Today journalist hailing from Manipur, explained to us that the words heard in the video as well as the title were Manipuri. She said that the title of the video said: “People of Manipur condemn the lowering of independent Kangleipak/Manipur's flag and replacing it with the Tricolour.”
The audio heard in the clip was: “After remaining for thousands of years as a sovereign nation, Kangleipak/Manipur lost its independence to the British during the 1891 Anglo-Manipuri War. Today on August 15, India's Independence Day, we are burning the Tricolour as it is a symbol of colonial rule.”
We also found a Vimeo link to the viral video on the official website of the People’s Liberation Army of Manipur from August 15, 2022. On Vimeo, the description of the video stated that the people in it were members of the PLA Manipur, a separatist group that was established under the leadership of N Bisheswar Singh in 1978. However, India Today could not independently ascertain if the men in the video were part of the group.
Manipur DGP P Doungel told India Today that to the best of his knowledge, no incident involving Bajrang Dal members burning the Indian flag in the state had taken place. Jit Ningomba, a journalist from Manipur, also said that no such incident had taken place recently in the state. The same was corroborated by another Manipuri journalist who spoke under the condition of anonymity. India Today also reached out to Bajrang Dal national coordinator Neeraj Danoriya, who rubbished the viral claim.
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