#FactCheck-PM Narendra Modi’s Viral Statement Linking His Father to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose is Fake
Executive Summary
A fabricated graphic designed to look like a Dainik Jagran postcard is viral on social media. The viral post claims that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a statement regarding his father, alleging that he was part of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's army and spied against the British. The post further claims that his father later surrendered on Mahatma Gandhi's advice and became a Gandhian. Research by the CyberPeace Research Wing has revealed that this claim is entirely fake and misleading. There is no record or evidence of PM Modi ever making such a statement, and the viral postcard has been digitally altered.
The Claim
An Instagram user shared the viral graphic claiming that PM Modi stated his father was associated with Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's army, worked as a spy against the British, and later surrendered on Mahatma Gandhi's advice to become a follower of his ideology. https://www.instagram.com/reels/DZ7BAHdP5u , https://archive.ph/wip/7ajAK
Fact Check
A thorough Google keyword search was conducted using relevant terms, but no credible news reports or official sources were found to back up the viral claim.
During the research, the original, authentic postcard published by Dainik Jagran was located. The original post actually quoted PM Modi speaking about India's startup ecosystem. Today, 21st-century India is going through a massive phase of transformation. A startup revolution is taking place in India today. In this revolution, the youth of India, with a fresh mindset, are finding solutions to problems for the welfare of humanity." https://www.instagram.com/p/DZkRUY2n2hi/
Conclusion
The research confirms that Prime Minister Narendra Modi never made any statement linking his father to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose or Mahatma Gandhi's surrender advice. The viral image circulating on social media is morphed and edited to spread misinformation.
Related Blogs
Executive Summary
A video circulating on social media is being shared with the claim that the Border Security Force (BSF) shot dead a Bangladeshi national who was attempting to infiltrate India through the Tripura border. CyberPeace Research Wing research found the claim to be misleading. The viral video is not related to any recent incident on the Tripura border. It actually shows Haris Nazir Dar, a militant who was killed during an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district last year.
Claim:
The viral clip, which is around eight seconds long, shows a body lying on the ground. It is being shared on X with captions suggesting that the deceased was a Bangladeshi infiltrator who was killed while attempting to cross the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura.
https://x.com/ocjain4/status/2066210317265457298
Fact Check:
To verify the claim, we extracted keyframes from the viral video and conducted a reverse image search. During the research, we found matching visuals in a report published by Dainik Bhaskar on August 2, 2025. The report was related to an encounter between security forces and militants in the Akhal forest area of Kulgam district in Jammu and Kashmir. Visuals in the report matched those seen in the viral video.
We also found a report published by India Today on August 2, 2025, which carried photographs of slain militant Haris Nazir Dar taken from a different angle. The report stated that security forces had killed three militants during the operation in the Akhal forest area of Kulgam. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/gunfight-underway-with-3-lashkar-terrorists-in-jks-kulgam-2764971-2025-08-01
Conclusion:
The evidence gathered during our research makes it clear that the viral video does not show a Bangladeshi infiltrator killed at the Tripura border. The footage is actually from a security operation in Jammu and Kashmir and shows Haris Nazir Dar, a militant who was killed in an encounter in Kulgam last year.
Introduction
Intricate and winding are the passageways of the modern digital age, a place where the reverberations of truth effortlessly blend, yet hauntingly contrast, with the echoes of falsehood. The latest thread in this fabric of misinformation is a claim that has scurried through the virtual windows of social media platforms, gaining the kind of traction that is both revelatory and alarming of our times. It is a narrative that speaks to the heart of India's cultural and religious fabric—the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, a project enshrined in the collective consciousness of a nation and steeped in historical significance.
The claim in question, a spectre of misinformation, suggests that the Ram Temple's construction has been covertly shifted 3 kilometres from its original, hallowed ground—the birthplace, as it were, of Lord Ram. This assertion, which spread through the echo chambers of social media, has been bolstered by a screenshot of Google Maps, a digital cartographer that has accidentally become a pawn in this game of truth and deception. The image purports to showcase the location of Ram Mandir as distinct and distant from the site where the Babri Masjid once stood, a claim went viral on social media and has caught the public's reactions.
The Viral Tempest
In the face of such a viral tempest, IndiaTV's fact-checking arm, IndiaTVFactCheck, has stepped into the fray, wielding the sword of veracity against the Goliath of falsehood. Their investigation into this viral claim was meticulous, a deep dive into the digital representations that have fueled this controversy. Upon examining the viral Google Maps screenshot, they noticed markings at two locations: one labelled as Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple and the other as Babri Masjid. The latter, upon closer inspection and with the aid of Google's satellite prowess, was revealed to be the Shri Sita-Ram Birla Temple, a place of worship that stands in quiet dignity, far removed from the contentious whispers of social media.
The truth, as it often does, lay buried beneath layers of user-generated content on Google Maps, where the ability to tag any location with a name has sometimes led to the dissemination of incorrect information. This can be corrected, of course, but not before it has woven itself into the fabric of public discourse. The fact-check by IndiaTV revealed that the location mentioned in the viral screenshot is, indeed, the Shri Sita-Ram Birla Temple and the Ram Temple is being constructed at its original, intended site.
This revelation is not merely a victory for truth over falsehood but also a testament to the resilience of facts in the face of a relentless onslaught of misinformation. It is a reminder that the digital realm, for all its wonders, is also a shadowy theatre where narratives are constructed and deconstructed with alarming ease. The very basis of all the fake narratives that spread around significant events, such as the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple, is the manipulation of truth, the distortion of reality to serve nefarious ends of spreading misinformation.
Fake Narratives; Misinformation
Consider the elaborate fake narratives spun around the ceremony, where hours have been spent on the internet building a web of deceit. Claims such as 'Mandir wahan nahin banaya gaya' (The temple is not being built at the site of the demolition) and the issuance of new Rs 500 notes for the Ram Mandir were some pieces of misinformation that went viral on social media amid the preparations for the consecration ceremony. These repetitive claims, albeit differently worded, were spread to further a single narrative on the internet, a phenomenon that a study published in Nature said could be attributed to people taking some peripheral cues as signals for truth, which can increase with repetition.
The misinformation incidents surrounding the Ram Temple in Ayodhya are a microcosm of the larger battle between truth and misinformation. The false claims circulating online assert that the ongoing construction is not taking place at the original Babri Masjid site but rather 3 kilometres away. This misinformation, shared widely on social media has been debunked upon closer examination. The claim is based on a screenshot of Google Maps showing two locations: the construction site of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple and another spot labeled 'Babar Masjid permanently closed' situated 3 kilometers away. The assertion questions the legitimacy of demolishing the Babri Masjid if the temple is being built elsewhere. However, a thorough fact-check reveals the claim to be entirely unfounded.
Deep Scrutiny
Upon scrutiny, the screenshot indicates that the second location marked as 'Babar Masjid' is, in fact, the Sita-Ram Birla Temple in Ayodhya. This is verified by comparing the Google Maps satellite image with the actual structure of the Birla Temple. Notably, the viral screenshot misspells 'Babri Masjid' as 'Babar Masjid,' casting doubt on its credibility. Satellite images from Google Earth Pro clearly depict the construction of a temple-like structure at the precise coordinates of the original Babri Masjid demolition site (26°47'43.74'N 82°11'38.77'E). Comparing old and new satellite images further confirms that major construction activities began in 2011, aligning with the initiation of the Ram Temple construction.
Moreover, existing photographs of the Babri Masjid, though challenging to precisely match, share essential structural elements with the current construction site, reinforcing the location as the original site of the mosque. Hence the viral claim that the Ram Temple is being constructed 3 kilometers away from the Babri Masjid site is indubitably false. Evidence from historical photographs, satellite images and google images conclusively refute this misinformation, attesting that the temple construction is indeed taking place at the same location as the original Babri Masjid.
Viral Misinformation: A false claim based on a misleading Google Maps screenshot suggests the Ram Temple construction in Ayodhya has been covertly shifted 3 kilometres away from its original Babri Masjid site.
Fact Check Revealed: IndiaTVFactCheck debunked the misinformation, confirming that the viral screenshot actually showed the Shri Sita-Ram Birla Temple, not the Babri Masjid site. The Ram Temple is indeed being constructed at its original, intended location, exposing the falsehood of the claim.
Conclusion
The case of the Ram Temple is a pitiful reminder of the power of misinformation and the significance of fact-checking in preserving the integrity of truth. It is a clarion call to question, to uphold the integrity of facts in a world increasingly stymied in the murky waters of falsehoods. Widespread misinformation highlights the critical role of fact-checking in dispelling false narratives. It serves as a reminder of the ongoing battle between truth and misinformation in the digital age, emphasising the importance of upholding the integrity of facts for a more informed society.
References
- https://www.indiatvnews.com/fact-check/fact-check-is-ram-temple-being-built-3-km-away-from-the-birthplace-here-truth-behind-viral-claim-2024-01-19-912633
- https://www.thequint.com/news/webqoof/misinformation-spread-around-events-ayodhya-ram-mandir-g20-elections-bharat-jodo-yatra
Executive Summary
Following the flash floods that struck the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday morning, 289 bodies have so far been recovered, while around 1,500 people remain missing. A large number of foreign nationals, along with Nepali citizens, are also among those reported missing. Meanwhile, a video showing a massive landslide is being widely circulated on social media. The viral clip is actually a compilation of two separate videos. The first shows a landslide rapidly turning into a torrent of muddy floodwater, while the second shows a two-storey house on a riverbank being swept away by rising floodwaters. A research done by the Research Wing of the CyberPeace found that both videos are old and unrelated to Nepal. The first video is from Myanmar, while the second was recorded in the United States.
Claim:
A user on social media platform Facebook shared the video, claiming that it shows the initial scenes of the devastating floods and landslides that struck Nepal.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1572666177989617
Fact Check:
To verify the first video, we conducted a reverse image search of its keyframes. During the search, we found a longer version of the same footage, which was shared on an Instagram account on June 30. This confirmed that the viral clip is unrelated to the recent floods in Nepal.
https://www.instagram.com/reels/DaLtKtjzTtq/
During the research, we also found the full version of the video on a YouTube channel, where it was uploaded on January 28, 2024. Although the video caption did not clearly specify the location of the incident, it mentioned Myanmar several times. This confirms that the viral video is old footage from Myanmar and not related to the recent disaster in Nepal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z2_IEqOBNg&t=3s
We found another report, published on January 25, 2024, that carried screenshots from the viral footage. It stated that the incident took place between January 24 and 25, 2024, in Myanmar’s Hpakant mining area. Further verification led us to a report published by EOS.org, the digital science news outlet of the American Geophysical Union. The report examined the incident by comparing Planet Labs satellite imagery captured before and after the event, providing further evidence about the location of the incident.
https://www.geoengineer.org/news/mine-waste-dam-failure-in-myanmar-caught-on-video
https://eos.org/thelandslideblog/myanmar-1
Second Clip
For the second clip, a reverse image search of its keyframes led us to a CBC report dated June 14, 2022, which carried a photograph of the same two-storey house seen in the viral footage. The report identified the location as Gardiner, Montana, USA, where the Yellowstone River experienced severe flooding and a rapid rise in water levels. It also stated that the house belonged to Parker Manning, who recorded the footage himself while vacationing with his family at a spot roughly half a mile upstream from the house.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/yellowstone-flooding-video-house-collapses-river/
We also found a post related to the viral video on FOX 61, where the footage was shared with a generic caption. The link to the post and a screenshot are provided below.
Conclusion
Our research found that both videos are old and unrelated to Nepal. The first video is from Myanmar, while the second is from the United States.
