Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Based on the 1990 exodus of Kashmiri pandits, Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’ has received accolades from a large section of the public as well as politicians. PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were among the leaders who met and congratulated the team of The Kashmir Files. In this backdrop, an image of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat with Vivek Agnihotri and Pallavi Joshi is doing the rounds on social media with the claim to show their ‘recent meeting’ after the release of the movie. However, we found the image to be untrue.
Several news outlets also published articles claiming that Mohan Bhagwat met Vivek Agnihotri. News website Republic World published an article titled ‘Truth-seekers Should Watch The Kashmir Files Says RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat’ on March 17, 2022. The article carried the same viral image of Bhagwat with Agnihotri and Joshi. “Every truth-seeker must see this film, a brilliantly written script, a complete artistic work, and thorough research,” Republic World quoted Bhagwat as saying.
News agency ANI also published an article on March 17 with the title, ‘RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat meets ‘The Kashmir Files’ director Vivek Agnihotri, says ‘truth-seekers’ should watch the film.’ ANI’s article also featured the viral image of Bhagwat and the team of Kashmir Files.
The article was later taken down by the agency. However an archive version of the same can be found here.
Based on the video interviews of the first generation victims of the ‘Genocide’ of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990, The Kashmir Files has amassed enough political attention. From PM Narendra Modi hailing the team for “daring to make a film on the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus during the Kashmir Insurgency,” to Congress’ Kerala unit posting a series of Tweets telling ‘Facts’ about the Kashmiri Pandits, the film has successfully revived the decades old debate on who is to be blamed for the ‘Kashmir Genocide.’
Since its release, The Kashmir Files has been the centre of much misinformation. Newschecker debunked several false and misleading claims associated with the movie over the past weeks. You can read our fact checks here, here and here.
Fact Check/Verification
To verify whether Mohan Bhagwat met Vivek Agnihotri after the release of The Kashmir Files, Newschecker conducted a Google reverse image search for the viral image claiming to show the recent meeting between Bhagwat and the Kashmir Files team and found a tweet by Vivek Agnihotri dated April 26, 2019. The tweet carried the viral image along with the caption, “Thanks a lot Mohan Bhagwat ji @RSSorg for watching #TheTashkentFiles. Your comment that this is one of the “Most honest, fair, balanced and important document of India’s modern history” reinforces our faith in #RightToTruth.”
We further looked up keywords ‘Mohan Bhagwat Meets Vivek Agnihotri, Praises The Tashkent Files’ and found a report by ‘ I Am Buddha’, dated April 26, 2019 with the title ‘The Tashkent Files: Authentic, Accurate and Vital Indian Document; says RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat.’
The report also featured the viral image and stated, “A special screening of The Tashkent Files was held on Wednesday, in the headquarters of RSS Organization, at Reshimbagh in Nagpur. RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat, not so interested in Cinema, but his curiosity towards Lal Bahadur Shastri’s mysterious death in Tashkent, urged him to open the fact-files.”
Newschecker also reached out to RSS spokesperson Rajiv Tuli who clarified that no recent meeting took place between Bhagwat and the team of The Kashmir Files. “The image is a 2 year old image and there has not been any recent meeting between them,” Tuli told us.
Conclusion
The viral image claiming to show the ‘recent meeting’ between the RSS Chief and team of The Kashmir Files is from 2019. Moreover, there has not been any recent meeting between them. Media reports and social media posts are untrue.
Result: Fabricated News/False
Sources
Twitter Account Of Vivek Agnihotri
Telephonic Conversation With RSS Spokesperson Rajiv Tuli
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Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
