On January 13, 2025, the University Grants Commission notified the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, replacing the earlier 2012 anti-discrimination framework.
The University Grants Commission’s 2026 equity regulations make anti-discrimination rules legally binding, mandate Equal Opportunity Centres and equity committees in all universities, and broaden caste-bias definitions to include SC, ST and OBC protections.
Critics say the rules are vague, could be misused, lack general category safeguards and invite campus tension, triggering nationwide protests and legal challenges. Supporters call them necessary to curb entrenched bias.
In the above context, a video of people protesting with the photos of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being widely shared on social media.
The video is shared with a caption suggesting that it shows the protest against the UGC guidelines.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “HINDU UNITY IS A MYTH One UGC law and Brahmins dropped the facade of Hindu Unity in one day. Hindus were never one, they will never be one. The basis of this religion is Caste/Varna and it is fundamentally against Unity. To all those Dalits & OBCs who are roaming as cheerleaders of H!ndutva, this is the reality.#UGC_RollBack #UGCRegulations (sic)”
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The viral video is old and is from a protest against the National Herald case.
On a Google reverse image search, we found that the same video was shared by an Instagram user on December 28, 2025. The text embedded in the video reads, “Congress holds a Mashal Yatra to protest the decade-long ‘false National Herald case against’”
We found that a longer version of the incident was also shared by the Indian National Congress President of Odisha, Bhakta Charan Das, on December 19, 2025.
In the video at around 11 seconds, we can see the same placards with Amit Shah and Narendra Modi’s posters. The video is shared with a caption that reads, “For more than a decade, on the orders of Modi-Shah, the BJP government of the center has been arming the central institutions to suppress the voice of the main opposition party of the country. Attempts are being made to defame Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi by bringing false allegations in the National Herald case. ED-CBI is being misused to hide the truth, but no matter how big the injustice is, it cannot stop the truth. That is clear from the verdict of the honourable court. Joined the senior leaders and workers in the huge torch rally organised by the Bhubaneswar Congress Committee against this oppression and political revenge. This is not just a protest; this is a pledge to save democracy and the Constitution. Congress will never bow down to the politics of fear. This fight for truth, justice, and democracy will continue till the end.”
Taking a hint, we searched with relevant keywords and found a report by Ommcomnews on December 17, 2025.
The report stated that hundreds of Congress workers in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, scuffled with police after being stopped while marching to gherao the BJP state office, protesting what they called ‘political harassment’ of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case. Several supporters were detained during the confrontation.