Fact Check: Video showing brawl between panelists on a TV news debate is from Afghanistan but not Manipur
Video showing brawl between panelists on a TV news debate is from Afghanistan but not Manipur
A video is in wide circulation, allegedly depicting a physical attack between spokespersons representing the Congress and BJP, during a panel discussion on a Manipur-based TV news channel.
The incident comes at a crucial time, as the state prepares for Lok Sabha polls scheduled in two phases on April 19 and April 26.
Fact Check:
The claim is false.
Upon conducting a reverse image search of keyframes from the video, we discovered a YouTube video uploaded by TV9 Bharatvarsh on February 21, 2019. The video is titled "Kabul TV Guest fighting" and provides context to the incident.
Additionally, we found a report from The News International, a Pakistan-based publication, dated February 19, 2019, which stated that participants of a TV talk show engaged in a physical altercation live on air in Afghanistan as a debate turned violent. Another report corroborating this information confirms that the incident is not related to the upcoming elections in Manipur.
It has been confirmed that the fight actually occurred during a debate on an Afghan news channel, 1 TV Kabul, in June 2016. The viral excerpt can be found starting from the 25:20 mark, further confirming that it is not a confrontation between Congress and BJP leaders during a panel discussion on a Manipur-based news channel.
Hence, the claim is false. A video showing a fight during a news debate on an Afghanistan TV channel is being wrongly portrayed as a brawl between the Congress and BJP leaders during a panel discussion before the Lok Sabha polls in Manipur.