Video bears witness to #JNU VC @mamidala90's statement that those opposing registration for Winter session of #JNU… https://t.co/OPVcfI4nbJ — Prasar Bharati News Services (@PBNS_India) 1578299214000

NEW DELHI: A video claiming the violence in Jawaharlal Nehru University on Sunday was triggered by leftist groups attacking ABVP activists proved hugely embarrassing for the RSS-affiliated student organisation on Monday when a fact check revealed that the attacker was actually an ABVP member. The video had retweeted by M Jagadesh Kumar, JNU vice-chancellor, saying the “video bears witness to #JNUVC@mamidala90’s statement that those opposing the registration for winter session of #JNU are behind violence to scuttle the academic process of varsity” (sic).The video showing a man in a red jacket beating another wearing green was widely circulated on social media. It was first posted on Twitter by a journalist stating, “This triggered the clashes in #JNU campus. Students associated with Left parties bashed up #ABVP members when they were facilitating admission process. Students from #Left parties wanted to cancel admission process in #JNU.”The video went viral with Prasar Bharati News Services tweeting it, followed by BJP functionaries like Chetan Bragta, IT head and convenor of Himachal BJP, national IT cell head Amit Malviya and BJP spokesperson Suresh Nakhua.However, Altnews, which assesses fake news, disclosed on Monday, “The man in the red jacket is ABVP member Sharvender Kumar, a third-year PhD student at Centre for West Asian Studies, School of International Studies in JNU. His identity was confirmed to Alt News by four JNU students, two of whom are from SIS.” Apparently, Kumar was thrashing fellow SIS student Vivek Pandey on the school lawns.TOI asked Durgesh Kumar, president of JNU’s ABVP unit, whether Sharvender was an outfit member. Durgesh Kumar protested that “no ABVP member has indulged in any violence” but when it was pointed out that Sharvender could be seen in the company of ABVP activists wearing the outfit’s name card, he accepted that he was indeed a member of the RSS-linked student group and his junior in West Asian Studies. “Why he is seen beating up someone, I don’t know,” the unit president claimed.VC M Jagadesh Kumar, when asked why he had retweeted a video with the false accusation, said, “I also retweet from the MHRD handle and these are government-run twitter handles." The VC added that investigation would help identify those involved in Sunday’s violence.