Months-old footage of protests falsely linked to medical college exam saga in India

Published on June 17, 2026 at 10:43
2 min read
By Sachin BAGHEL, AFP India

Demonstrations broke out in India over the government's mishandling of a national medical college entrance examination in May 2026, but footage circulating online showing protesters burning an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not filmed at the rallies. It actually shows an unrelated demonstration in January over proposed changes to equality rules at Indian universities, which critics argued would not actually provide protection to all.

The Facebook video was shared on May 23 by a profile with more than 5,000 followers and shows a group of people burning an effigy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Breaking -- Gen Z protesters burn Narendra Modi," its caption reads, adding that Indians are tired of "living under BJP corruption".

Screenshot of the false post captured on June 6, 2026, with a red X added by AFP

One of its hashtags -- NEET -- refers to the National Eligibility Entrance Test, a hugely competitive national medical college examination in India. It was held in May before the government decided to scrap the results and conduct a retest after investigators uncovered a question paper leak. The decision sparked protests in New Delhi on May 13 and calls for the education minister to resign (archived link).

It also contains a hashtag that refers to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) -- a parody group that echoes Modi's Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with millions of followers on social media -- which has become a way to channel anger at the examination mishandling since its launch in May (archived link).

The group was created after India's Chief Justice Surya Kant reportedly called youth involved in criticism of the government "cockroaches" and "parasites" during a hearing. Kant later said that his remarks had been misconstrued and taken out of context.

The group's supporters held their first public demonstration in New Delhi on June 6 over the medical college entrance examination saga and another scandal related to the online marking system of tests taken by nearly two million high school students (archived link).

But the video that appeared in similar posts on Facebook in fact shows an unrelated demonstration.

Misrepresented visual

A Google reverse image search using keyframes from the false clip led to a video showing the same scene shared on Facebook on January 28 (archived link).

The post links it to proposed changes to University Grants Commission (UGC) rules that would require institutions to set up "equity committees" to handle discrimination cases and promote fairness on university campuses.

"In demanding the UGC bill be revoked, an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was set afire by people of the 'savarna caste' in Ara, Bihar," its caption reads, referring to the upper rung in India's caste system.

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (L) and the Facebook video from January 2026

Subsequent keyword searches found Indian outlets reported on the demonstrations on January 27 along with similar visuals (archived here and here).

Protesters -- mainly students from unprotected groups -- argued the new regulations may see them unfairly targeted and would not offer equal protection to all.

Days after the demonstration, India's Supreme Court ordered a stay on the changes, calling them "too sweeping" and saying it needed to re-examine the matter (archived link).

AFP has debunked another false claim related to the CJP.

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