Congress leader and former JNU student union president Kanhaiya Kumar is contesting from the North-East Delhi parliamentary constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. On 17 May 2024, Kanhaiya Kumar was slapped, and ink was thrown at him by two persons during his election campaign in Delhi (here & here). In this context, a photo (here, here, & here) of Kanhaiya Kumar lying on a bed with his eyes closed, seemingly unconscious, is being widely shared across social media platforms with the claim that it shows his condition after being slapped. In this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo of Kanhaiya Kumar lying unconscious on a bed after a recent attack on him in Delhi during the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign.
Fact: This viral photo of Kanhaiya Kumar is not related to the recent attack on him in Delhi during his 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign. This viral photo dates back to 2016 when he was hospitalized after falling ill following a hunger strike. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To verify information about this viral photo, we conducted a Google reverse image search. This search led us to a news report published on the ‘NDTV’ website on 07 May 2016 featuring the same viral photo. According to this report, JNU Students Union President Kanhaiya Kumar was taken to the JNU Health Center after he fell ill following a hunger strike.
Additional news reports featuring similar pictures from different angles can be seen here, here, here and here. According to these reports, on 09 February 2016, an event was held at JNU where anti-national slogans were allegedly raised. Following this event, student leaders Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, and Anirban Bhattacharya were arrested on sedition charges. After this controversy, JNU appointed a high-level committee. The committee’s report, released on 25 April 2016, led JNU authorities to fine Kanhaiya Kumar ₹10,000 and to rusticate Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya for one semester each. Kanhaiya and his fellow students went on a hunger strike against this punishment. After several days of striking, Kanhaiya’s condition started deteriorating, and he was admitted to JNU’s health center. Later, he was also taken to AIIMS. Kanhaiya ended his hunger strike after his health worsened.
To sum up, this viral photo of Kanhaiya Kumar was captured in 2016 when he was hospitalized after falling ill following a hunger strike. It is not related to the recent attack on him during the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign.
