Fact Check: Video Of Protest Against Union Carbide Waste Disposal In Madhya Pradesh Circulated As SP Demonstration
A protest was held against Union Carbide waste disposal in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh. During that time two people tried to immolate themselves and sustained burns. Both are associated with the BJP. The video of this protest was claimed to be of the SP.
- By: Sharad Prakash Asthana
- Published: Mar 11, 2025 at 05:41 PM
New Delhi (Vishvas News). A video claiming to be of a protest by Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders is going viral on social media. In this video, two people can be seen trying to immolate themselves during the protest. Some users have shared the video and claiming that it is a protest by local SP workers.
Vishvas News investigations revealed that the viral video is of a protest against dumping of waste from the Union Carbide factory in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers Rajkumar Raghuvanshi and Raj Patel were injured during the protest. It had no connection with the SP.
Viral Post
X user Jitendra pratap singh posted a video (archive link) on 9 March 2025 and claimed it was a protest by SP leaders.
Facebook user Shailendra Nath Vishwakarma also shared this video (archive link) and wrote,
“समाजवादी पार्टी के नेताजी आज भी खोज रहे हैं कि वह कौन समाजवादी लफंडर था जो चुपके से लाइटर जलाया और भाग“
Translation- The leaders of the Samajwadi Party are still searching for that socialist scoundrel who secretly lit the lighter and ran away
Investigation
Many users commented on Jitendra Pratap Singh’s post and said the video is of the protest against the toxic waste of Union Carbide in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh.
On searching with keywords, we found a related news article published on the NDTV MPCG website on January 3, 2025. Screenshots of the viral video can also be seen in the report. According to the news report, a protest was going on against the burning of Union Carbide Corporation’s waste in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh. Angry people blocked the bus stand area for half an hour. When people tried to go towards Ramki Enviro Industries (where the waste is kept), the police stopped them. During the protest at the main intersection of Pithampur, Raghuvanshi poured petrol on himself, then someone in the crowd lit a matchstick, due to which his hair and clothes caught fire. Due to this, Patel standing with him also sustained burns. Both injured have been admitted to Choithram Hospital in Indore.
The incident was also covered by Naidunia. However both the news reports do not mention the SP.
According to a report published on Aaj Tak’s website on January 3, poisonous gas methyl isocyanate leaked from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984. This killed more than 5,000 people, while thousands were crippled. Over 40 years after the gas tragedy, 337 tonnes of poisonous waste from this factory was transported to Pithampur. Local citizen groups began a protest demanding the waste not be destroyed in the area.
A second video of the incident was posted on the profile of Instagram user mr.harikeshdwivedi on January 3, in which Raghuvanshi and Patel can be seen sitting in a police vehicle.
Member of Parliament (Dhar) Savitri Thakur’s associate Dr. Hemant Patel shared a news item from the Dainik Bhaskar newspaper dated January 4, describing Rajkumar Raghuvanshi and Raj Patel as his compatriots and posted wishes for their speedy recovery. According to the profile, Dr Patel is associated with the BJP.
The post below was made from Raghuvanshi’s Instagram profile on January 24. According to this, he was sending a postcard to the President under the One Lakh Postcard Campaign. It mentions the campaign going on in Pithampur.
Rajkumar’s profile can also be seen on Facebook. It shows that he is a BJP worker.
To verify the details of the incident, we contacted local journalist Harikesh Dwivedi who had reported the incident from Pithampur. He confirmed that Raghuvanshi and Patel are associated with BJP and that they have no connection with SP.
He also shared Raj Patel’s Facebook profile with us, which shows that he is a BJP supporter.
We scanned the profile of the user who shared the video of the demonstration of local organisations in Pithampur by claiming it to be a protest by SP leaders. The user has more than 99,000 followers.
Conclusion: A protest was held against Union Carbide waste disposal in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh. During that time two people tried to immolate themselves and sustained burns. Both are associated with the BJP. The video of this protest was claimed to be of the SP.
- Claim Review : The video is claiming that it is a protest by local SP workers.
- Claimed By : X User- https://x.com/jpsin1/status/1898743623812005999
- Fact Check : False
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