A video on social media claims to show archival footage from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) members dancing during the period of British rule in India. The video is being shared as historical evidence from pre-Independence India.
A Facebook user posted the viral post with a caption:👇
You can check the post here.
NM VERIFIED
NewsMobile checked the viral post and found the claims to be false.
Searching the BBC online archive for this video footage, the NM team could not find any such clip of RSS members dancing in pre-Independence India.
However a keyword search on Google detects the same video uploaded on December 17, 2015, by the YouTube channel of Zee 24 Taas. This establishes that the video is not archival footage from the British era.
As per the footage description, it shows a Sangh Shiksha Varg training camp organised by the RSS at Reshimbagh in Nagpur, Maharashtra. The video captures RSS members singing and dancing during the event.
Further verification shows that the video dates back to December 2015, when RSS members were celebrating the anniversary of the Sangh Shiksha Varg in Nagpur.
An Aaj Tak report from the same period confirms that the event took place at Hedgewar Smruti Bhawan, the RSS headquarters in Reshimbagh. The report also states that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, members of his cabinet, and several BJP MLAs were present at the event.
Therefore, we can conclusively say that the viral post, claiming the footage from BBC archive shows RSS members dancing during the period of British rule in India, is false.
