Clip from a Street Play Falsely Portrayed as Real Incident of Muslim Men Killing RSS Supporter in Kerala - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 22, 2023
A video that appears to show a woman being shot dead is being shared on social media with the claim that she was an RSS supporter killed by Muslims in Kerala. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Visuals of a Woman RSS supporter getting shot by Muslims in Kerala.
Fact: Viral video does not show any real incident. It is a clip from a street play that was performed in September 2017 in Kerala’s Malappuram district by the members of DYFI. This street play aimed to portray the story of Gauri Lankesh, who stood against right-wing groups and allegedly met her demise at their hands. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Upon conducting a reverse image search of the keyframes extracted from the viral video, we traced the full video back to the Facebook pages DYFI Kulikavu MC & CPI(M) Cyber commune, where it was originally posted in September 2017. The description of the videos clearly indicated that it was a street play intended to portray the alleged involvement of the RSS in the assassination of the journalist Gauri Lankesh.
The street play portrays the story of a woman (Gauri Lankesh) who fought against the RSS and was allegedly killed by them. The play denounces the RSS, citing historical incidents like the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and the murders of Kalburgi and Govind Pansare. It emphasizes the need for Hindus, Muslims, and Christians to unite against the RSS and champions secularism and democracy.
The translated text of the full street play goes like this:
*Masked men shoot down a woman*
Lead Actor: She was a fighter. She kept fighting. She raised her voice against the RSS. Finally, the RSS killed her as well. She has been killed. Tie him up. Why? Why did you kill this journalist?
Actor who killed the woman: We are RSS workers, Nationalists.
Lead Actor: Didn’t you hear this? RSS betrayed the Indian freedom struggle. They shot Mahatma Gandhi dead. That is RSS. Silence is dangerous. This silence of yours- when fascism is peeping even into your kitchen- is dangerous.
Actor 1: Yes, silence is dangerous.
Lead actor: RSS, which eliminated almost 2000 people belonging to minority communities in Gujarat. RSS, which shot dead Kalburgi and Govind Pansare. They eliminate those who write and speak out.
Lead actor: When RSS fascism, with knives swords and guns, targets me and you, what is the solution? What is the solution to resist the RSS?
Actor 2: There, that is the solution! (Pointing to the DYFI flag)
Lead Actor: Yes, that is the solution. For Hindus and Muslims to come together, to question the RSS, here, DYFI’s white flag, which rose up inspired by Bhagat Singh who declared in the parliament that India’s Independence is more important than his own life. Under this white flag, Hindus, Muslims and Christians will come together. Let’s shout Inquilab Zindabad. RSS get lost. Death to fascism. We have to live here. Let RSS be ruined. We will bury it under six feet of soil. Secularism long live. Democracy long live…
Crowd: Inquilab Zindabad. RSS get lost. Death to fascism. We have to live here. Let RSS be ruined. We will bury it under six feet of soil. Secularism long live. Democracy long live…
Various media outlets, including Hindustan Times, The News Minute, and News18, reported on this video in 2017. These reports clarified that the video clip was part of a street play depicting the enactment of the murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh. Gauri Lankesh was tragically shot dead outside her home in Bengaluru on  05 September 2017, reportedly by a member of a radical right-wing group.
To sum it up, the video in question is old, clipped footage from a street play that is now being circulated and falsely presented as a genuine incident of Muslim men killing an RSS supporter in Kerala.