Fact Check: PM Modi Did Not Make Any Statement Against The Upper Castes, A Clip From A 10-Year-Old Video Is Viral

New Delhi (Vishvas News). On August 21, 2026, a protest against reservations was held at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. Meanwhile, a 26-second clip from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech is going viral on social media. The PM can be heard saying in the clip, “Tell me, if such a person gets a chance, will he settle the score or not? You wouldn’t let me fetch water. You wouldn’t let me go to the temple. You wouldn’t let my children enroll in school.”

Some users on social media are circulating an incomplete clip of the PM’s speech out of context. It is being claimed that PM Modi harbours hatred towards the upper castes.

Vishvas News investigated the viral claim in detail. The viral post was found to be fake. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was speaking about the unity of society and praising the architect of the Constitution, Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. The remarks heard in the viral clip were made in a different context. A partial clip is now being made viral with a false claim.

What is going viral?

Facebook user ‘Hanuwanth Singh Rathore’ shared the viral video on August 20, 2026, and wrote in the caption, “The one who is digging the pit for the upper castes and instigating the so-called Dalits is Narendra Modi ji, the national head of Chandrashekhar Ravan’s party. The biggest supporter of Bhimvad in the country is the Prime Minister of the country. Now you all see how much hatred this person has in his heart for the upper caste society.”

The content of the viral post is reproduced here verbatim. Many social media users are sharing it, believing the claim to be true. See the archived link of the post here.

Investigation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hairstyle and the quality of the video clearly indicated that the viral clip was quite old. Vishvas News first extracted several keyframes from the viral video and searched them using Google Lens. We found the original video on ‘Times Now’ YouTube channel, where it was uploaded on March 21, 2016. After reviewing the entire video, Vishvas News found the section corresponding to the viral clip at the 33-minute mark.

In the original video, PM Modi emphasizes on the importance of social unity. Giving the example of Babasaheb, PM Modi says, “This government is so sensitive that whatever helps the country move forward is its priority, and we also follow the same principle. What I mean to say, brothers, is that we must emphasize on social unity, and this is what we have to learn from Babasaheb. Can you imagine a great man who had to endure so much oppression, who spent his childhood facing injustice, neglect and oppression, and who saw his mother being insulted? Tell me, if such a person gets a chance, will he settle the score or not?” You wouldn’t let me fetch water, you wouldn’t let me go to the temple, you wouldn’t let my children get admission in school.”

He further says, “At the human level, this is quite natural. But Babasaheb Ambedkar was someone who transcended humanity. When he held a pen in his hand, he had the power to make decisions. But if you look at the entire Constitution, and his entire debat in the Constituent Assembly, there is no trace of bitterness in Babasaheb Ambedkar’s words or speech. There is no trace of revenge. His attitude remained the same. And what was that attitude? I can put it in my words: sometimes, while eating, we accidently bite our tongue, but we don’t break our teeth because we know that both the teeth and the tongue belong to us. For Babasaheb, the upper castes were his own, and so were our Dalits, the oppressed and the exploited. All of them were equal to him, and so there was no trace of revenge and no trace of bitterness.”

During our investigation, we also found the original video on Narendra Modi’s YouTube channel. It was uploaded on March 21, 2016. It stated that this was a video of PM Modi’s address while laying the foundation stone for the Dr B.R. Ambedkar National Memorial. The viral clip can be seen at around the 36th minute mark.

During our search, we also found a video of this foundation stone laying ceremony on Amar Ujala.com. The video, dated March 21, 2016, stated that PM Modi had laid the foundation stone for the Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar National Memorial. On this occasion, he said that reservation is a right of Dalits and no one can take it away.

Vishvas News further investigated the viral claim and visited Narendra Modi’s website. We found his full speech, which was uploaded on March 21, 2016. The full speech can be read here in its context.

During this investigation, Vishvas News contacted Bharatiya Janata Party’s national spokesperson Dr Vijay Sonkar Shastri. He confirmed that an old statement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being circulated out of context. Dr Shastri said that PM Modi had never made such a controversial statement against the upper castes.

What is the context?

According to an August 22, 2026, report by Aaj Tak, a large number of people belonging to the general category protested against the caste-based reservation system at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on August 21, 2026. The protestors also opposed the controversial UGC Equity Regulations.

This investigation concluded by checking the profile of the user who shared the fake post. We found that the user has over five thousand followers on Facebook. The account was created in 2018. The user lives in Hyderabad.

Conclusion: Vishvas News investigated the viral post and found it to be fake. PM Modi did not make any statements against the upper castes. A clip of a few seconds from a 10-year-old video of PM Modi is being circulated out of context.

Tags

• BJP
• fake news
• PM Modi