In February 2025, Buddhist monks launched protests outside the Mahabodhi Mahavihara complex in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, demanding full control of the Mahabodhi Temple, which is currently managed by a joint Hindu-Buddhist committee under the Bodh Gaya Temple Act of 1949 (here, here, here, and here). Amid this, a video (here, here, here, and here) showing a scuffle between protesters and the police is being shared on social media, with claims that it is from the ongoing Mahabodhi Mukti movement in Bihar. Through this article, we fact-check the claim made in this video.
Claim: This video shows a scuffle between Bihar police and Buddhist monks during the ongoing Mahabodhi Mukti protest in Bodh Gaya.
Fact: This viral video has no connection with the ongoing Mahabodhi Mukti Andolan in Bodh Gaya, Bihar. It shows a protest held by the Youth Congress near Rajasthan’s Chief Minister’s residence on 21 December 2024. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
If we observe the viral video carefully, we can notice Indian National Congress flags, suggesting that this video may not be from the Buddhist monks’ protest in Bihar’s Bodh Gaya.
To verify the details of this viral video, we conducted a Google reverse image search. This search led us to the same video uploaded on Facebook by the official account of the Indian Youth Congress on 21 December 2024. According to the description, the video shows a protest held by the Youth Congress near the Rajasthan Chief Minister’s residence in Jaipur against insulting comments made about Dr B.R. Ambedkar in Parliament and the issue of unemployment in Rajasthan. The same video was also uploaded on Facebook by the official account of the Jharkhand Youth Congress on 21 December 2024.
On 17 December 2024, during his speech in Parliament, Home Minister Amit Shah made comments about Dr BR Ambedkar that sparked controversy, leading to nationwide protests (here).
According to reports (here, here, & here), on 21 December 2024, Youth Congress workers in Jaipur held a protest against the Rajasthan government over several issues, including unemployment, MSP for farmers, and drug addiction. The police used batons and water cannons to control the crowd as they moved towards the official residence of Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma.
Meanwhile, protests are still ongoing in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India, led by Buddhist monks and Buddhist organisations demanding full control of the Mahabodhi Temple (here, here, here, and here). However, the viral video has no connection to this protest.
To sum up, this viral video shows a protest that was held near Rajasthan’s Chief Minister’s residence on 21 December 2024.
