Photo of RSS In Uttarakhand Is From 2013
The Claim
A photo of RSS volunteers shows them helping people in the Uttarakhand glacier burst tragedy.
News posted on
Emerging story
On February 7, 2021, a piece of a Himalayan glacier is believed to have fallen into a river, triggering a huge flood in northern India. The flood burst open a dam and water poured through a valley in the state of Uttarakhand. 26 people were killed and another 150 people were reported missing.
On Twitter, Paresh Rawal, whose bio says that he is an actor from Mumbai India, tweeted a photo of volunteer rescue workers with the caption: “Any calamity Anywhere In India . #RSS is the first one to reach there and Last one to leave . Always.Respect.”
The image claims, “100s of #RSS volunteers are in #Chamoli working 24x7 without any desire for publicity.” Rawal’s tweet has received nearly two thousand retweets with many users recognizing that this is not a recent picture, calling out Paresh Rawal for spreading propaganda and trying to make RSS look good.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found this claim to be fake.
The original image was from 2013 in a news report published on Samvada, an Indian news network.
It appears the people in the picture, called the RSS Swayamsevaks, were responding to the flash floods in Uttarakhand in 2013. According to the Samvada report, there were 5000 volunteers "serving tirelessly in different areas including flood affected valleys and plains.” They provided food distribution, medical camps, rescue assistance, and transportation to safe places.
According to NPR, RSS is an Indian nationalist party that promotes the idea that India should be a Hindu nation. This ideology worries some of India's religious minorities, particularly Christians and Muslims. Some RSS members call Indian Muslims, which make up 14% of India’s population, "invaders." The Guardian refers to RSS as “Hindu Supremacists” who are tearing India apart.
