A video is being widely shared on social media in which a large group of people are seen attending a public meeting where a woman from a tribal community is giving a speech.
The video is shared with a caption suggesting that it shows people from a tribal community in Assam protesting religious conversion.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “Huge protest by tribal community in Assam against religious conversion. In the past, we have seen many people hurt over Bangladeshis harassing a tribal woman in Tripura.” (Translated from Malayalam)
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The viral video is from Jharkhand and shows a rally about reservation issues.
On a Google reverse image search, we found the photos from the event shared on the Facebook page of Nisha Kumari Bhagat on October 17.
The video was shared with a caption that reads, “Kurmis who consider my every reality a dream... you have lost your sleep... Adivasis took to the streets of Dumri Assembly constituency to fight for their identity. The cry of ‘Jai Sarna...Long live tribal unity’ echoed in every direction.” (Translated from Hindi) The hashtag in the post suggests that it is from Jharkhand.
The entire video clip of the event was shared on her Facebook page of Nisha Bhagat, on November 7. We also found that Nisha Kumari Bhagat had also shared photos from the incident on her X account on November 8. The caption associated with the image read, “The Sarna Adivasi Samaj is united, steadfast against injustice! The Adivasi Ekta Manch’s outrage mega rally — the land of Chatra district echoed...” The caption suggested that the image is of a protest held by tribals of Jharkhand.
Taking a hint, we searched with relevant keywords and found that the event was also reported by Live Hindustan on November 8.
According to the report, tribal groups in Chatra, under the Adivasi Ekta Manch, held a massive protest rally opposing the Kurmi community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. They argued that Kurmis have no tribal connection and warned that their inclusion threatens the indigenous community’s identity and rights. The report also mentioned the name of Nisha Bhagat’s name for protesting in the protest.
