Lighthouse Journalism found a video being shared widely, on social media platforms. The video featured several people rallying out on the streets. It was claimed that the protest was against the new Universty Grants Commission (UGC) Equity Regulations (2026). These rules were notified by the UGC.
However, the Supreme Court (SC) of India issued an interim stay on January 29, 2026, against the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, citing concerns that they are vague, potentially divisive, and misuse-prone. The 2012 anti-discrimination regulations will remain in force meanwhile.
During the investigation we found that the video being shared widely was not related to the UGC protests. The viral claim is misleading.
Claim:
X user Ashish Vyas shared the viral video on his profile with misleading claim.
Other users are also sharing the same video with similar claims.
Investigation:
We downloaded the video being widely shared and uploaded the video on the InVid tool to obtain keyframes.
After obtaining the keyframes we closely observed these there was a truck with a banner in the video as observed.
Later, we ran Google reverse image search on the keyframes obtained from the video. This led us to several similar videos and photos that featured the keyframes from the video.
We found this post from January 14, the caption said (translation): Today in Dhorimanna, I participated in and addressed the general public at a massive public protest rally organised under the leadership of senior Congress leader Shri Hemaram Choudhary against the decision to include the Dhorimanna and Gudamalani sub-divisions of Barmer district into Balotra district.
Prominent leaders present at the public movement included Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee President Shri Govind Singh Dotasra, Leader of Opposition Shri Tikaram Jully, All India Congress Committee General Secretary Shri Sachin Pilot, Baytu MLA and Madhya Pradesh Congress in-charge Shri Harish Choudhary, Barmer–Jaisalmer MP Shri Umedaram Beniwal, Barmer Congress District President Shri Laxman Singh Godara, along with other senior leaders and party workers of the Congress.
We found a similar video on Facebook.
The caption said: A massive crowd surged in protest against the reorganisation; even the streets of Dhorimanna seemed too small to hold the gathering.
We found several such posts where the truck seen in the viral video can be spotted with date of the strike mentioned as indefinite from 3rd January.
Conclusion: The viral video does not depict protests against the UGC regulation, instead it is an old video showing protests against the decision to include the Dhorimanna and Gudamalani sub-divisions of Barmer district into Balotra district. The viral claim is misleading.
