A video is now circulating on social media with a claim that some lawyers in Uttar Pradesh recently staged a mock funeral procession to protest against the state's chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
The widely shared clip captures lawyers chanting, 'Hai Hai Yogi, Mar Gaya Yogi,' as they carry a cot adorned with garlands on their shoulders.
BOOM found that the video shows a protest that occurred in 2019. The agitating lawyers then took out a mock funeral procession to protest against the establishment of the state education service tribunal in Lucknow.
The clip is being shared with a Hindi caption that translates to, "The funeral procession of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was taken out by the lawyers of the High Court in Prayagraj. Now there is a clash of forces, the lawyers say that the government can do whatever they want to do. This kind of funeral procession was not carried out for any chief minister till date".
(Original Text in Hindi: प्रयागराज में हाई कोर्ट के वकिलों के द्वारा उत्तर प्रदेश के मुख्यमंत्री योगी आदित्यनाथ कि निकाली गई शव यात्रा टक्कर अब हुई है जोरो की, वकिलो का कहना है कि सरकार को जो करना है कर ले, इस तरह कि शव यात्रा किसी भी मुख्यमंत्री का आजतक नहीं निकाली गई)
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Fact Check
BOOM found a reply to a X post (formerly Twitter) by DCP City Prayagraj who refuted the claim saying the video is old and from 2020.
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For further verification, we ran a Hindi keyword search related to advocates in Uttar Pradesh staging a mock funeral procession of Yogi Adityanath and found that several Facebook users posted the same video in September 2019.
A Facebook user uploaded the video with a Hindi caption that translates to, "Breaking News-11/9/19 Allahabad - Thousands of lawyers of Allahabad High Court took out the funeral procession of BJP government and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from Ambedkar Square High Court to Subhash Square Civil Lines in the presence of police. They burnt the effigy of chief minister Yogi Adityanath in the presence of police at Civil Lines intersection. Raised 'Yogi Adityanath Murdabad' slogans."
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We also found a Facebook post by a local news outlet named Prayagraj News who uploaded visuals and some statements of the protestors on September 11, 2019.
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In the report, a lawyer can be heard protesting against the Uttar Pradesh government's decision to set up the state's educational tribunal in Lucknow. The protest by the lawyers in Uttar Pradesh was also covered by mainstream Hindi outlets such as Patrika and Amar Ujala at that time.
A report by Amar Ujala states that the protest happened on September 11, 2019, against the establishment of the state education service tribunal in Lucknow. The high court lawyers raised anti-government slogans and carried out the mock funeral procession from the Ambedkar statue site to gate number 3 of the Allahabad high court. The report also mentioned that the high court bar association distanced themselves from the protest.
