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.
Claim
Girl students of a tribal school in Tamil Nadu threw away their dupattas in protest of their school uniform, which they say is North Indian and patriarchal.
Fact
A welcome gesture by the students for Geeta Ilangovan, author of Dupatta Podunga Thozhi (Wear the dupatta friend), for an event at their school.
A video, likely shot in a school, showing students lined up in the corridors and flinging their dupattas (scarf), is going viral on social media platforms. Those who shared the video claimed that the girl students in Tamil Nadu are throwing away their dupattas to protest against their school uniform, which “they say is North Indian & patriarchal (sic).” Newschecker found the claim to be untrue.
Ashok Swain, whose posts have been fact checked by Newschecker multiple times, shared the video alleging, “Girls studying in a school for tribals (indigenous people) in Tamil Nadu are throwing away their dupattas (scarves) in protest against school uniforms that they think North Indian and patriarchal!” Multiple others also asserted the same while posting the video online.
Such posts can be seen here, here, here, and here.
Also Read: Unrelated Videos Shared To Claim Attacks On Hindi Speaking Migrants In Tamil Nadu
Fact Check/Verification
A Google reverse image search on the keyframes of the viral video led us to a news report by One India Tamil, dated March 12, 2023. The report, which carried screen grabs from the viral video, stated, “The girl students threw away their dupatta and enthusiastically greeted the writer Geeta Ilangovan, who wrote books including Dupatta Podunga Thozhi (Wear the dupatta friend), when she went to talk to the students of the government boarding school located on the Kalvarayan hill.. (translated from Tamil).”
A BBC Tamil report, dated March 14, 2023, also related the same information. Ilangovan’s interaction with the students was a part of an awareness initiative by a charity called “Aware India”, the report added.
Following this, we scanned through the social media handles of Aware India and found the same video shared on their Facebook page on March 14, 2023. The Tamil caption along with the footage roughly translates to, ”Kalvarayan Tribal boarding school students welcoming Geetha Ilangovan, the writer of “Wear the dupatta, friend” by throwing their dupattas.”
Author Nivedita Louis also shared the video on Facebook to show how girl students welcomed Geeta Ilangovan to their school.
Newschecker further reached out to Geetha Ilangovan who clarified that the video doesn’t show any protest. “Aware India works for the advancement of girl children and aims to prevent child marriage among tribal communities through education. A three-day special event was held at Kallakurichi on behalf of the organisation. I and many other writers participated in this event to increase the habit of reading among tribal students. The girls welcomed me to the event by flinging away their dupatta. The claims that the students were allegedly protesting by throwing their dupatta are wrong,” she said.
Ilango further explained that the students flung their dupatta as a symbolic gesture. Geeta’s book, a compilation of essays on women and their rights and liberties, is titled “Dupatta Podunga Thozhi“, which translates to “Wear the dupatta, friend”.
Geeta also said that the idea was conceived on the first day of the three day event by author Nivedita Louis as a fun way to welcome her.
Geeta Ilangovan can be seen explaining the same here.
Conclusion
We could hence conclude that the viral video claiming to show girl students in Tamil Nadu throwing away their dupattas as a protest against school uniforms “that they think are North Indian and patriarchal” is false.
Result: False
Sources
Report By One India Tamil, Dated March 12, 2023
Facebook Post By Aware India, Dated March 14, 2023
Correspondence With Geeta Ilangovan On March 16, 2023
(With inputs from Vijayalakshmi Balasubramaniyan)
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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.
