An AI-generated video showing protesters holding placards against "Marathi imposition" at the Gateway of India in Mumbai is being falsely shared on social media as footage of a real protest.
On March 30, 2025, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray initiated the controversial "Mi Marathi" campaign, urging supporters to confront non-Marathi speakers. Subsequently party workers targeted bank officials across Maharashtra, demanding them to speak in Marathi. After Chief Minister Fadnavis issued a warning on April 3, Thackeray backed down and asked his supporters to end the campaign.
The viral video shows a group of youngsters protesting with banners at the Gateway of India in Mumbai which read, "I don't speak Marathi. Please don't label us as traitors."
The video is being shared on X with a caption that translates from Marathi as, "They wanted to live in Maharashtra, earn money, and enjoy the facilities here, but they openly opposed the local language. If these placard holders went abroad tomorrow, they would learn English, French, and German. But they are having trouble learning the language of their own country. #PaidProtest"
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found multiple indications of the video being AI-generated and not an actual footage of a protest at the Gateway of India.
We found several telltale signs of AI manipulation in the video, including protesters with anatomical anomalies such as three arms holding placards, and misspellings like "Lebel" instead of "label" on the signs. The video also contains several unnatural body movements and blurred facial features in the background.
Additionally, in the bottom corner of the video we found a watermark reading "paribhraman". Looking it up on social media, we came across an Instagram account that goes by @paribhraman. Run by digital creator Manab Gogoi, the account had posted the same video on April 9, 2025, with a caption clearly stating that the content is AI-generated.
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The Instagram account has been posting numerous AI-generated videos depicting fictional protests against various issues such as protests against tree felling in Rajasthan, an Asha workers' hunger strike in Kerala, and protests against clearing of forest land near the University of Hyderabad in Telangana.
Additionally, we ran the viral video through other AI detection tools like Hive Moderation, which indicated with 96.9% confidence that the viral video contains AI-generated or deepfake content.
BOOM did not find any credible reports of recent protests at the Gateway of India or elsewhere in Mumbai against ‘Marathi imposition'.
