Fact-Check: Did Manipur Congress President Blame Party For Violence in State?

We found that the letter was written by a regional leader of Manipur and not the Congress Manipur President.

Fact-Check | The viral claim is false as the letter was not written by Congress Manipur President.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video purportedly from India Today is going viral on the internet with users claiming that the Congress Manipur President has written a letter to Rahul Gandhi blaming the party for the ongoing crisis in Manipur.

What have users said?: It is being shared with a caption that said, "The Congress President of Manipur has written a letter to Rahul Gandhi saying that Congress is responsible for the current problem by illegally infiltrating Rohingyas & Bangladeshis into Manipur for its vote bank (sic)."

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

(Archives of similar claims can be found here, here, and here.)

We received a query about the viral video on our WhatsApp tipline.

Are these claims true?: No, the letter was written by the general secretary of Manipur Patriotic Party (MPP) named Naorem Mohen and not a Congress leader.

Clues in the viral video: At the beginning of the video, one can see a headline which said, "Manipur regional party blames Cong for violence."

• The anchor also mentioned that the allegations were put forth by one Naorem Mohen.

The viral video carried several clues which indicated that a regional party wrote the letter.

(Source: Viral video/Screenshot)

The original video: We performed a keyword search on YouTube and found the original video uploaded on the official channel of India Today.

• The video was uploaded on 26 June.

• It was titled, "Manipur Regional Party Leader Blames Cong For Violence, Says Cong Votebank Politics Behind Crisis."

• The anchor in the video mentioned that a Manipur regional leader named Naorem Mohen alleged that the current crisis in the state was due to the policies of Congress party.

• Mohen accused the party of encouraging illegal immigration to the state and converting them into vote bank.

News reports: A report published in India Today NE said that Mohen is the general secretary of the MPP.

• Mohen blamed the Congress party for the ongoing violence and wrote an open letter addressing Gandhi.

• Mohen further said that the present situation was the outcome of encouraging illegal immigration and not due to a fight between two communities.

• The report also carried the full version of the letter.

About Mohen and his ties with BJP: According to his X (formerly known as Twitter) account's bio, he is currently the editor of Signpost news as well as the general secretary of the MPP.

A screenshot of Mohen's X (formerly known as Twitter) bio.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

• A report in The Hindu published in 2013 identified Mohen as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT cell convenor in Manipur who was then expressing his support for Dr Harsh Vardhan.

• On going through Mohen's LinkedIn profile, we found that he served as the IT cell convenor for BJP from August 2013 to October 2014.

In his experience, he mentioned that he managed social media for the BJP.

(Source: LinkedIn/Screenshot)

• According to Ground Report, Mohen’s association with the BJP is "well known in Manipur."

Conclusion: Congress Manipur President Keisham Meghachandra Singh did not write an open letter criticising the party for the ongoing violence in Manipur. The letter was written by the general secretary of Manipur Patriotic Party named Naorem Mohen.

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