This Video Doesn’t Show Congress Workers Burning PM Modi’s Effigy in Karnataka

We found that the incident is from 2012, when KSU workers were seen burning PM Modi’s effigy in the state.

A video showing several people setting themselves on fire while trying to burn an effigy is going viral on the internet as a recent incident from Karnataka.

What do viral posts say?: Sharing the video, social media users have said, "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."

A different variation of the claim states that it shows Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers trying to burn Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's effigy.

(Archives of similar claims can be viewed here and here.)

Are these claims true?: No, the video dates back to July 2012 and shows Kerala Students Union (KSU) workers burning an effigy of MG University's then vice-chancellor.

How did we find that out?: A Google Lens search on the keyframes of the video directed us to some older versions of the same clip that dated back to 2012 and 2013.

• The post shared in 2012 identified the location of the incident as Kerala.

News report: Taking this forward, we performed a keyword search with the words "kerala protest fire."

• We came across a video report published on the official YouTube channel of 'Asianet News' that carried the same visuals as the viral clip.

• The report was uploaded on 5 July 2012 with a title that said, "Lucky Fire Escape for KSU workers in Pathanamthitta."

• A closer look at the report showed us that people were seen holding the flag of KSU during the protest.

Other sources: A news report published in Times of India mentioned about a petition that sought to ban the burning of effigy in Kerala.

• It highlighted the incident in Pathanamthitta on 4 July 2012.

• The report said that activists belonging to KSU were burning the effigy of the vice-chancellor of MG University, when flames went out of control.

• Some of the protestors suffered injuries and had to be admitted to a private hospital.

Geolocating the place: In the YouTube video, we noticed a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the background. Taking this and Pathanamthitta as references, we were able to locate the place where the incident took place.

Comparing visuals: On comparing the keyframes from the viral video to the visuals available on Google Maps, we could conclude that the incident indeed took place in Kerala's Pathanamthitta.

Conclusion: This video dates back to 2012 and is being shared with multiple misleading contexts on social media platforms.

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