A video has surfaced on social media platforms showing a man engaged in a discussion where he can be heard strongly criticizing western countries over their double standards on climate change. The video is going viral with the claim stating the man is an IAS officer named Vijay Singh, speaking for India on a global platform.
A Facebook user shared the video with a caption: “See the daring of an Indian Official on a International platform. Grant salute to Vijay SIngh, IAS Jai hind (sic).”
The video is also doing rounds on Twitter.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the viral video and found it to be shared with a false claim.
The viral video shows a “COP Coalition 26” logo on the right bottom. Taking a clue from this and by performing a relevant keyword search, we found the video on “COP26 Coalition” YouTube channel on November 21, 2021. The video shows the same panel discussion.
As per the video description, it showed “Vijay Prashad (Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research) speech on decolonising the climate movement.”
Taking a hint from here, we tried searching for Vijay Prashad’s social media page. Prashad is the director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, a journalist, and the editor of LeftWord Books, a Marxist publishing house based in New Delhi according to his bio on Twitter.
On checking further, we found a Tweet by Prashad where he dismissed rumors of him being an IAS officer.
“From@BrutIndia comes a new packaged version of my speech at #COP26 – https://brut.media/fr/international/when-an-indian-historian-lashed-out-at-the-west-93a655e3-c204-423b-8991-1ee844d796c3. It occasioned a rumour in Indian WhatsApp groups that I am a member of the Indian Administration Service; later I will reveal my lack of success at such exams (including IIT-JEE),” Prashad wrote.
Several media outlets carried reports on Prashad’s powerful speech at COP26.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the viral video does not show IAS officer Vijay Singh.
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