2018 Image Of Man Burning Tricolour Resurfaces With False RSS Link

The government has begun an initiative named 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' to celebrate 75 years of independence. Addressing the nation through his monthly radio monologue, 'Mann Ki Baat' Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asked Indians to hoist the national flag at their homes during August 13-15 as part of 'Har Ghar Tiranga' celebration. The image has been shared in this context.

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The viral photo has been widely shared on Facebook. A text on the image reads, "RSS Member burning Indian flag is ok in new India."

View two posts here and here.

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Fact Check

BOOM ran a reverse image search and keywords search to find the original source of the phototgraph.

On April 2, 2018 Edxlive published a report with a title, "Art teacher from Kumbakonam burns national flag over Cauvery dispute, arrested"

According to the report, the man, identified as M Prabhu, is associated with the Tamil nationalist outfit "Tamil Desiya Periyakkam". He was held for protesting against the BJP-led central government's refusal to constitute the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) even after Supreme Court's orders.

The reports further stated that police had initiated action against M Prabhu, a resident of Matha Church Street at Puthupudaiyur near Kumbakonam in Thanjavur district, after the video clip posted by him went viral on social media. Read the Times of India report from April 2, 2018.

Samyam, a Tamil outlet published the report on April 1, 2018, about the incident. Read the Deccan Chronicle's report.

BOOM however was unable to verify if Prabhu was linked to any RSS affiliates.