Fact Check by Logically Facts:
The Verdict [Misleading]
The picture dates back to 2016, when Kanhaiya Kumar was the Student Union President of Jawaharlal Nehru University and was admitted to the hospital following a hunger strike.
What is the claim?
An image of Congress' North East Delhi constituency candidate Kanhaiya Kumar was shared on social media with a claim that he was hospitalized after he was assaulted by a group of people in East Delhi's New Usmanpur area.
According to a report in NDTV, ink was thrown at Kumar and was also slapped by a man. Additionally, Chhaya Gaurav Sharma, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councilor, was also subjected to assault. Allegedly, the perpetrators released a video after the incident, claiming that they did that because Kumar had "raised slogans against the nation." It's noteworthy that AAP and Congress are in alliance for the Lok Sabha election in Delhi.
The image that has gone viral depicts Kumar lying on what seems to be a hospital bed, dressed in a white and green t-shirt. An X user shared the image (archived here) along with the caption, "This is the condition because of one slap" (Translated from Hindi).
However, the image in question dates back to 2016 and is not connected to the recent incident.
Here are the facts
A reverse image search directed us to an NDTV article published on May 7, 2016. The article features the same image, with the caption indicating that Kumar, who was then serving as the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Students' Union president, was transported to a health center while in a semi-conscious state after he decided to end his hunger strike due to his worsening health condition.
According to the report, Kumar and several other students from JNU were participating in demonstrations since April 28, 2016, protesting against the punishment by the university's administration in relation to the February event where "anti-national slogans" were allegedly raised.
The Quint also published the same image, accompanied by the caption, "Kanhaiya Kumar admitted in the emergency ward." The image was attributed to the JNUSU President Media Group.
Why was Kanhaiya Kumar protesting?
On February 9, 2016, controversy erupted surrounding a purported video depicting a group of students at JNU allegedly chanting "anti-national slogans." Subsequently, three students—Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, and Anirban Bhattacharya—were arrested on charges of sedition and later released on bail.
The university formed a high-level committee to probe the incident. The committed released an investigation report on April 25, 2016, and imposed penalties accordingly. Kumar was fined Rs 10,000, while Khalid and Bhattacharya were rusticated for one semester. Reports later emerged with experts saying that some of these videos may have been altered or doctored.
The verdict
The eight-year-old image depicting Congress candidate Kanhaiya Kumar being admitted to a hospital in 2016 has been falsely circulated, claiming that he was hospitalised after being slapped during election campaigning.
(Disclaimer: This story was originally published by LOGICALLY FACTS, and republished by India TV as part of the Shakti Collective.)
