Unrelated image passed off as rally in support of sexual assault accused
Against the backdrop of widespread outrage triggered by a viral video of Kuki women being paraded naked and sexually assaulted in Manipur, an image of a rally is being shared on social media with the claim that it shows members of the majority Meitei community marching in support of the accused.
The post has been viewed over 1,41,000 times, as of August 2.
Archived link here.
The Hindu found that though the rally was held in Manipur amid the ongoing crisis, it was not taken out in support of the perpetrators of sexual violence.
We noticed that the large banner being carried by the participants in the image read: “MASS RALLY AGAINST CHIN-KUKI NARCO TERRORISM”.
A reverse image search using relevant keywords revealed that the rally was organised on July 29 by the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), a civil society group.
“The rally aimed to address the ongoing ethnic clashes in the northeastern state and protect the territorial integrity of Manipur amid the Kuki-Zo-Chin tribes’ demands for a separate administration,” said a news report by WION.
Old video of violence against woman in Madhya Pradesh falsely linked to Manipur
Amid reports of violence against women in Manipur, a clip of a woman being tied to a tree and brutalised is being circulated on social media with the claim that the incident took place in the northeastern State.
(The video contains graphic violence. Viewer discretion is advised.)
Archived link here.
But The Hindu found that the clip showed an incident that occurred in Madhya Pradesh, two years before ethnic violence erupted in Manipur.
A reverse image search of the keyframes of the video led us to social media posts dating back to July 2021, indicating that the victim was a Bheel (tribal) woman from Madhya Pradesh.
According to a news report, she was thrashed by her relatives over a family dispute.
Video of drone attack is from Myanmar, not Manipur
A video of drones being deployed to bomb a locality is doing the rounds on social media with the claim that it shows “Kuki terrorists” targeting villages inhabited by Meiteis.
Archived link here.
The post has been viewed over 15,000 times, as of August 2. It claims that over 40 explosions have been reported in Bishnupur district of Manipur.
A reverse image search took us to a Telegram post containing the same clip. The post indicated that this was an attack by rebel forces against the military junta in Myanmar. It also credited the Mandalay Free Press, which claims to be a free and independent news outlet specialising in Mandalay and Sagaing news.
Using these hints, found the same video on the YouTube channel of the Mandalay Free Press. The description of the video also stated that it showed an attack by rebels against the Myanmar Army.
Poll violence passed off as “police atrocities” against Kukis
A video shared on Facebook purports to show law enforcement officers rounding up and beating a group of unarmed Kukis in Manipur. The post seeks to present this as evidence that the alleged atrocities against Kukis are State-sponsored.
Archived link here.
However, The Hindu traced it back to an incident of poll-related violence in Manipur in 2022.
Using a combination of reverse image and keyword search, we came across the same video in a Facebook post dated March 6, 2022. It claimed that the clip showed the police cracking down on those who damaged EVMs at a polling booth in Saibol, Tengnoupal.
We also found a news report on the incident.
Manipur Congress chief did not pin the blame on own party
Amid the political stalemate over the Manipur crisis, a video of a news report of a national television channel is being circulated on X (formerly Twitter), with the claim that the Congress chief in Manipur has blamed his own party for the violence in the northeastern State.
Archived link here.
Citing the news report, the post claimed that the Manipur Congress president had written to party leader Rahul Gandhi, accusing their own party of precipitating the current crisis by encouraging illegal immigration of the Rohingyas and Bangladeshis into Manipur for political gain.
But a closer look at the video revealed that the author of the letter belonged to a regional party and not the Congress.
At the beginning of the clip, the anchor refers to “a Manipur regional party leader”. This was misconstrued by the author of the social media post as a reference to the Congress leader in Manipur.
Subsequently, the name of the regional leader is mentioned as Naorem Mohen, who is a general secretary of the Manipur Patriotic Party.
A keyword search using these hints led us to a report on Mr. Mohen’s open letter to Mr. Gandhi, blaming the Congress for the crisis.
