Fact Check: Gen Z youth in UP hold torch rally for Yogi, police? No, video is from Jaipur

A viral video claims that Gen Z youth took out a torch procession (mashal julus) in support of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the UP Police.

By -  M Ramesh Naik
Published on : 1 Oct 2025 9:47 AM IST

Gen Z youth in UP hold torch rally for Yogi, police? No, video is from Jaipur
Claim:The video shows Gen Z youth showing public support to Yogi Adityanath and the UP Police.
Fact:The claim is false. The video is from Jaipur, Rajasthan. The rally was in support of an activist on hunger strike for the victims of the Jhalawar Peeplodi accident

Hyderabad: A video of a large procession at night has gone viral. It is being shared with the claim that Gen Z youth took out mashal julus (a torch procession) in support of UP CM Yogi Adityanath and the UP Police.

It shows a rally organized as part of the ‘I Love Mahadev’ campaign, which emerged in response to the ‘I Love Mohammad’ controversy.


The clip shows a large group of people marching at night, holding torches and gathering around vehicles. An X user shared the video and wrote, “Mahadev: GenZ hits the streets with chants ‘UP Police use the lathi, we are with you. Yogi Ji, go forward, we are with you,’” (Translated from Hindi) (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The video is from Jaipur, not Uttar Pradesh.

We extracted keyframes from the viral video and performed a Google reverse image search. This led us to an Instagram video with the caption, “Naresh Meena is on a hunger strike till death in SMS Hospital. A huge torch procession was carried out under the leadership of his son Aniruddha to pay tribute to the children who died in the Jhalawad-Peeplodi accident.” (Translated from Hindi)

Using this information, we found a report about a torch procession NDTV Rajasthan report published on September 25. The report stated that supporters of Naresh Meena in Jaipur took out a torch procession on the night of September 25. Naresh Meena, who has been on a hunger strike for 14 days, is demanding justice for the families of children who died in the Peeplodi school accident in Jhalawar. His son Aniruddha Meena and former minister Rajendra Gudha, along with hundreds of people, participated in the procession from Triveni Nagar Chouraha to Gurjar’s Thadi in Jaipur.

To find the exact location in the video, we analysed the video closely. We noticed shop signboards such as ‘SHANKAR MISHTAN BANDAR’ and an ‘Unacademy centre’. When we searched for these on Google Maps, we found the exact location in Jaipur, confirming the video’s origin.

Source of the video's audio
We also looked for the original source of the audio heard in the viral clip. Keyword searches led us to a YouTube video shared by NDTV on September 27, titled “Bharat Ki Baat Batata Hoon | Syed Suhail: 'UP Police, use your baton...' Slogans echo after the uproar!”
The exact slogans heard in the viral clip can be matched with this video.
The same video was also uploaded to X by Deepak Sharma on the same day, confirming that the viral video was edited using audio from this post.
On October 1, Uttar Pradesh Police responded to the viral claims in an X post. Sharing the clip, they clarified: “The UP Police refutes this misleading video.”

The viral video does not show Gen Z youth marching in support of UP CM Yogi Adityanath and UP police. It is from Jaipur, Rajasthan, where supporters of Naresh Meena organised a torch procession demanding justice for children who died in the Jhalawar Peeplodi accident.

Therefore, NewsMeter concludes that the claim is false.

Claimed By:Social media users
Claim Reviewed By:NewsMeter
Claim Source:X
Claim Fact Check:False
Fact:The claim is false. The video is from Jaipur, Rajasthan. The rally was in support of an activist on hunger strike for the victims of the Jhalawar Peeplodi accident
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