An old video purporting to show Congress workers in Karnataka burning an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and instead setting their lungis on fire is viral online and is being falsely connected to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
BOOM found that the claims are false, the video is from 2012 and shows members of the Kerala Students Union (KSU) burning an effigy of Mahatma Gandhi University's then Vice Chancellor.
The video shows a group of protestors with blue flags burning an effigy when suddenly, the fire spreads on some of the protestors clothes and ends up burning their lungis.
A user shared the video on X with the caption, "Modi is fire, don't mess with him. In a Karnataka town a group of Congress workers set out to burn the effigy of Modiji and ended up burning their own lungis."
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
The post is also circulating on Facebook with a Hindi caption that reads, "Five Congressmen's lungi caught fire while burning Modi's statue in Karnataka! See how it all happened. Now Modiji's statues also started teaching lessons. Modiji power. Please Share Maximum"
(Original text in Hindi: "कर्नाटक में मोदी का पुतला जलाते समय पाँच काग्रेसियों की लुंगी में आग लग गई! देखें कैसे हुआ यह सब। अब् मोदीजी के पुतले भी सबक सिखाने लग गये. मोदी जी पॉवर. Please Share Maximum")
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
FACT CHECK
BOOM found that the incident is about 12 years old and is unrelated to the ongoing elections; it shows members of the KSU protesting against the then vice chancellor of the Mahatma Gandhi University.
BOOM had previously debunked this video in April 2018 when it was viral with the same claim.
We ran a reverse image search of some keyframes from the viral video on Google and found a Facebook post from September 1, 2012. The post carried a video that was an exact match to the viral one and was shared with the caption, "Funny Incident During Protest In Kerala. Lungi Catches Fire..." Click here for an archive.
Taking a cue from this caption, we ran a search for workers catching fire during a protest in Kerala, and found a video report on YouTube published by Asianet News. The report dated July 5, 2012, was titled, 'Lucky Fire Escape for KSU workers in Pathanamthitta' and carried the viral video.
Click here for an archive.
According to a post by the KSU's Facebook page, the protest took place on July 4 against then Vice Chancellor Rajan Gurukkal. KSU is the student wing of the Indian National Congress in Kerala.
A July 2012 report on a petition filed in the Kerala High Court seeking to ban on burning of effigies also cited this incident. The report explained that members of the union were protesting the alleged corruption by the vice chancellor and some of them ended up suffering injuries when their clothes caught on fire, after which they were admitted to a private hospital in Pathanamthitta.
