Fact Check: Old Kerala Video Shared As Karnataka Congress Workers Catching Fire While Burning Modi Effigy

A viral video of a crowd burning an effigy is not recent and not from Karnataka. The video from Kerala is almost 12 years old, and has nothing to do with the current general election.

Screengrab of the video being shared with a false claim.

CLAIM

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A few Congress workers in Karnataka caught fire while burning the effigy of PM Modi.

 

FACT CHECK

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The viral video is almost 12 years old and from Kerala, not from Karnataka. The people seen in the video are KSU workers, not Congress workers of Karnataka. The effigy being burnt is not of PM Modi, but VC of MG University

 

A video showing a crowd burning an effigy is of going viral on social media. Sharing the video on Facebook a user wrote, “Lungi of five Congressmen caught fire while burning Modi’s effigy in Karnataka! See how all this happened. Now Modiji’s effigies have also started teaching a lesson. This is Modiji power”

Facebook Link | Archived Link.

However, as we investigated, we came to know that the viral video is old and from Kerala. In the video, actually KSU workers were burning the effigy of the vice chancellor of MG University. Here’s the fact check.

Fact Check 

We started our investigation by taking some screenshots of the viral video. After conducting a reverse image search, we found a video on the YouTube channel Asianetnews. The video was uploaded on 5 July 2015. 

The caption of the video read, “Lucky Fire Escape for KSU workers in Pathanamthitta”. From the timestamp 0:20, the viral video can be seen. The description of the video read, “Protest March and burning effigy of MG University Vice Chancellor by KSU workers turned lucky fire escape for them.” This makes it clear that the viral video is old and has no link with the current general election. 

Archived Link 

KSU (Kerala Student Union)

The KSU flag can be seen in the video published on the YouTube channel. KSU is the student union of the All India Congress Committee, which is active in Kerala. This confirms that the viral video has nothing to do with Karnataka. The video is from Kerala. See the analysis of the flag below.

Moving forward, we found a report on the viral video published in “The Times of India” on 24 July 2012. According to this report, the students seen in the video were allegedly protesting against the corruption committed by the Vice Chancellor of MG University. Some protesters were also injured due to the fire and were admitted to the hospital.

Archived Link

Conclusion 

From our investigation, we can say that the viral video is almost 12 years old and from Kerala, not from Karnataka. The people seen in the video are KSU workers, not Congress workers of Karnataka. The effigy being burnt is not of PM Modi, but VC of MG University.

This story was originally published by Factcrescendo.com, as part of the Shakti Collective. Except for the headline, excerpt, and the opening introduction para, this story has not been edited by ABPLIVE staff.