Old protest video falsely linked to India PM's Manipur trip

Published on September 25, 2025 at 11:24
2 min read
By Akshita KUMARI, AFP India

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first visit to Manipur in September since more than 250 people were killed in ethnic clashes in the troubled northeastern state two years ago. But posts baselessly claiming he was greeted with a massive protest misrepresent old footage from West Bengal.

"The people of Manipur have rejected Modi, RSS, BJP," reads a Hindi-language Facebook post shared September 13, 2025, using the acronyms for the hardline group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological parent of Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

"Now this is a sign of a mass movement like Nepal happening in India!" the post adds, referring to the deadly unrest that recently rocked India's Himalayan neighbour.

The accompanying 16-second video, viewed more than 132,000 times, shows a large crowd walking under a footbridge with people apparently shouting, "Vote chor, Gaddi chod".

The slogan translates as "vote thief, give up the seat", and is used by opposition leader Rahul Gandhi who has accused the ruling BJP of rigging elections through vote manipulation (archived here and here).

Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured September 23, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

Similar posts also spread on X, Instagram and Threads following Modi's September 13, 2025 visit to Manipur, where deadly clashes broke between the mainly Hindu Meitei majority and the largely Christian Kuki community in 2023 (archived link).

But there have been no official reports of a massive protest during the prime minister's trip.

Moreover, a reverse image search on Google using keyframes found the video earlier published on YouTube by content creator Trisha Roy on April 14, 2025 (archived link).

"Kolkata Waqf Bill Protests. Location: Near NRS Hospital, Kolkata (14 April,2025)," reads the caption.

Screenshot comparison of the false post (L) and the video shared on YouTube

Deadly protests erupted in the state of West Bengal in April over the Waqf Bill, a piece of legislation to change how Muslim-owned properties are managed (archived link).

According to the ruling Hindu nationalist government, it will boost transparency around land management by holding accountable powerful Waqf boards, which control properties gifted by Muslim charitable endowments.

But the opposition has called the bill a polarising "attack" on India's Muslim minority.

AFP reached out to Trisha Roy who said the video, also posted on her Instagram account, has been given a "completely different context" (archived link).

"My video is being re-shared by others with false/altered captions and edited audio," she added. While the audio in the original is not clear, it does not feature people chanting, "Vote chor, Gaddi chod".

The location of the video matches Google Maps street imagery of the NRS Medical College and Hospital in West Bengal's capital Kolkata, confirming it was not filmed in Manipur as the false posts claim (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared clip (L) and its location on Google Maps, with corresponding features highlighted by AFP

AFP has debunked other false claims related to the Waqf reforms.

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