This video shows Hindu nationalists celebrating in 2015 -- it has nothing to do with England’s 2019 Cricket World Cup victory

This article is more than one year old.
Published on August 7, 2019 at 11:35
Updated on August 7, 2019 at 11:35
2 min read
By AFP India

A video has been viewed tens of thousands of times in multiple posts on Facebook and Twitter alongside a claim that it shows a group of Hindu nationalists celebrating England’s victory in the 2019 Cricket World Cup. The claim is false; the video has circulated online since December 2015 in media reports about members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) celebrating after completing their education training.

The video has been shared in this post uploaded to a Facebook page with nearly 250,000 followers on July 15, 2019.

The 28-second clip has been viewed more than 17,000 times.

The English-language text superimposed on the video states: “Nagpur headquarter after England won ICC World Cup 2019”.

Nagpur is a central Indian city in the western state of Maharashtra. England beat New Zealand to win the 2019 International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup on July 14, 2019.

Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:

Screenshot of misleading Facebook post

A journalist in AFP's Delhi bureau analysed the video. In the clip, a narrator can be heard saying in Hindi: “It is highly unlikely that you have seen RSS activists like this. These Swayamsevaks are dancing in their khaki shorts and white shirts, with black caps on their heads.

“It is interesting to see the majority of these activists are either middle-aged or elderly. This video is shot from the RSS headquarters in Nagpur."

The RSS, or Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, is a Hindu nationalist organisation headquartered in Nagpur; here is a report on the group by Indian news magazine India Today.

The same video has been viewed tens of thousands of times alongside a similar claim elsewhere on social media, such as here on Facebook and here on Twitter.

The claim is false; the video has circulated since December 2015 in media reports about members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) celebrating after completing their education training.

A logo for Hindi news channel India TV can be seen in the bottom right-hand corner of the video in the misleading post.

AFP found the same clip beginning at the 19 second mark of this YouTube video uploaded by India TV on December 17, 2015:</a></p> <p>The clip, entitled “RSS Activist Seen Dancing Before Meeting in Nagpur”, is accompanied by the same Hindi-language narration as heard in the video in the misleading post.</p> <p>A Google keyword search of “RSS activists dance” found the same clip beginning at the five second mark of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykHTHVgi03Y" target="_blank">this</a> video published by Hindi news channel <a href="https://aajtak.intoday.in/" target="_blank">Aaj Tak</a> on December 16, 2015.</p> <p>Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading post (L) and the versions published by India TV (C) and Aaj Tak (R):</p> <div class="wrapper-image"> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-visually_hidden"> <div class="field__label visually-hidden">Image</div> <div class="field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/image_in_article/public/medias/factchecking/india/rss2.jpg?itok=f8i0SANB" width="1100" height="187" class="img-fluid image-style-image-in-article" /> </div> </div> <span class="legend">Image comparison screenshots of three videos</span> </div> <p>Aaj Tak published <a href="https://aajtak.intoday.in/story/dance-of-rss-member-in-in-nagpur-1-846475.html" target="_blank">this</a> report alongside screenshots of the video on December 17, 2015.</p> <p>Part of the report translates to English as: “The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is known for its discipline, but some members were seen dancing in Nagpur after completing the third and final year of their education training.”</p> </body></html>

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