A video of a violent mob of protesters burning an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going viral on social media with the claim that Indians are protesting against PM Modi due to his alleged normalization of relations with Israel.
Fact Check
We conducted a reverse image search on Google, and the results led us to a similar video uploaded on Instagram on 30 January 2026. The caption of the post states, “The UGC BILL regulations seek to replace the existing 2012 regulations with more stringent measures to ensure inclusion for students from marginalized backgrounds, particularly the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC). The main aim is to stop caste-based discrimination and ensure equal treatment for everyone in colleges and universities. This created havoc amongst the ministers, MLA’s and officers under the BJP party”.
This indicates that the video is old and has been available online since at least January 2026. As per sources, it is related to protests concerning the University Grants Commission.
Moving forward, we found the same video uploaded on a Facebook post on 29 January 2026 with the same details. The post states that the video is from the Aara district of Bihar.
The University Grants Commission‘s (UGC) new regulations on the promotion of equity in higher education campuses triggered protests everywhere last January. The new rules implemented to prevent casteist incidents in government and private universities have created an atmosphere of social tension.
Based on all this evidence, it is evident that the video is old and not related to the Iran–Israel conflict.
Conclusion
Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral video to be False. The video is from a protest against the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines held in January.
Title: Old video of a protest against PM Modi falsely shared linking it to the Israel–Iran war
Fact Check By: Usha Manoj
Result: False
