Claim: A video of a large crowd singing and dancing with a band shows the ongoing protests organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) in India.
Fact: The video predates the claim. It shows an event hosted by a community named ‘Vancouver Mehfil’ in Vancouver, Canada.
On 21 July 2026, a Facebook page named سیاسی منظرنامہ shared a video of a large group of people singing along with a band playing an Indian song. The caption reads:
“کاکروچ پارٹی کا احتجاج دیکھ کر ڈی چوک کی یاد آگئی ہے۔ لگ رہا ہے انڈیا کی جنتا نے ہمارے کاں صاحب کا دھرنا دیکھ کر ڈی جے اور بچیوں کا انتظام کیا ہے ۔”
[Translation: “Seeing the ‘Cockroach Party’s’ protest brings back memories of D-Chowk. It seems the Indian public, having witnessed our ‘Kaan Sahib’s’ sit-in, has arranged for a DJ and young girls.”]
Student protests in India
On 9 July, founder of the initially satirical, youth-led group Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), Abhijeet Dipke, announced a march to the parliament in New Delhi, India on 20 July. His announcement came after India’s biggest exam the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical colleges, which was taken by nearly 2 million students on 3 May, was cancelled after it was leaked. Students had to retake the test on 21 June amid tight security.
However, the announcement of the first test’s cancellation caused significant distress to several students. Publications like Indian Express and Reuters reported 12 students died by suicide whereas BBC quoted an “alleged number” of 20.
CJP staged its first protest at Jantar Mantar on 6 June, demanding the resignation of Indian education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Hundreds of students have been camping out at the site for the past month. However, their movement gained attention after Indian activist and education reformer Sonam Wangchuk went on a hunger strike on 28 June, demanding Pradhan’s resignation.
After 20 days of his strike, Wangchuk was forcibly taken to the hospital on 18 July. His wife, Gitanjali J Angmo later took to her X account and wrote: “I am at Safdarjung hospital in Delhi where @Wangchuk66 has been admitted. Nothing should be administered to him orally or intravenous without take consent from me, his family and his doctors who have been monitoring his health for the past 20 days.”
Sonam Wangchuk’s wife Gitanjali J Angmo posts a statement on X on 18 July 2026.
On 20 July, thousands of students marched towards the parliament where they clashed with the police who tried to stop them from breaching the security of the areas. Videos posted on CJP’s Instagram account show people running through tear gas and officers using batons on the demonstrators.
Al Jazeera quoted Delhi police as saying that 60 protesters along with 118 security and police personnel were injured in the clashes. They also said 70 people have been detained and “legal action” will be taken against them.
On 23 July, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke his silence on the protests by posting on X. In his statement, he ensured “stringent punishment” for those involved in paper leaks.
Indian PM Narendra Modi’s X post on 23 July 2026.
Later, on the same day, he posted a video message on his X feed saying that his officials have prepared a draft detailing “provisions for fast-track courts and stringent punishment”. He assured that it will be discussed in the Cabinet on 24 July, and a bill will be introduced and passed as soon as possible.
On the other hand, Wangchuk also ended his hunger strike after 26 days on the night of 23 July. In a video message from the hospital, the activist stated that he has been assured that the issue of paper leaks will be discussed in the parliament, families of the students who died by suicide will be given adequate compensation, and people who took part in the New Delhi protests won’t be detained.
However, in a recent X post on 24 July, Dipke stated that their “peaceful protest” at Jantar Mantar will continue until Pradhan resigns. Dipke founded CJP in May this year in response to India’s Chief Justice Surya Kant’s comments that likened young people to “cockroaches” who don’t get any employment.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke’s X post on 24 July 2026.
On 25 July, Pradhan resigned and shared his statement in Hindi on social media. “Considering the situation that has arisen at Jantar Mantar and across the country, so that anti-national forces do not take advantage of this situation … I have sent my resignation letter to the prime minister,” an excerpt from his statement read.
Videos on CJP’s social media showed hundreds of protesters on Jantar Mantar celebrating their victory. Later, on the same day, CJP announced they are withdrawing nationwide protests as all of their demands have been accepted by the government.
CJP lists its demands that have been accepted by the government on 25 July 2026.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check took its first cue from a few people in the video wearing layered outfits and jackets which is inconsistent with New Delhi’s weather presently. Weather websites like AccuWeather and Google showed the city’s temperature to be 30°C on 23 July, Thursday. It showed a trend of rainy, cloudy and humid weather around 7pm, whereas in the video under investigation, people are sitting under an open sunny sky.
People wearing layered outfits and jackets in the video under investigation posted on 21 July 2026.
AccuWeather and Google Weather shows ‘excessive heat’ in New Delhi, India on 23 July 2026.
Soch Fact Check conducted a reverse-image search of the video and found that it’s likely from Vancouver, Canada, not India. The results led us to an Instagram post by an account named Tarun (username: @winking_brown_), which included the same video that is being fact-checked. It was posted on 14 July 2026 i.e. before the main CJP protest on 20 July.
Left: Video posted by an Instagram user named Tarun on 14 July 2026, Right: Video under investigation posted on 21 July 2026.
Initially, we noted that the caption included names of accounts and hashtags, suggesting the video is linked to Vancouver in Canada. It read:
“Chhaiya Chhaiya changed the vibe from seated to spectacular ✨ Follow @vancouver.mehfil for updates regarding upcoming mehfils 🌺Singer🎤 : @gurmukh_singh_music Drums🥁: @rishabhgulati02 #vancouvermehfil #vancouver #chhaiyachhaiya #kitsilano #livemusic.”
The video was also tagged with the location of Kitsilano Beach, while a pinned comment specifically identified the location and read: “Event organized by: @vancouver.mehfil Location: Kitsilano Beach, Vancouver, Canada.”
Pinned comment on the video posted on 14 July 2026
For further verification, we visited the tagged account of Vancouver Mehfil that had posted several other videos of outdoor musical gatherings; its bio reads, “Vancouver Mehfil. Bring your voice, your instrument, or just your vibe. Connecting artists one jam at a time.”
The page carried another video, which seemed to be from the same event. It featured the same people within a similar setting, except that it had been filmed from a different angle. This further confirmed that the video in the claim is originally from an event hosted by Vancouver Mehfil, in Canada, and not India.”
Same people spotted in the video under investigation and another video filmed from a different angle shows the same people.
Considering that the video predates the main CJP protest on 20 July, and that it was tagged with the location of Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver, Canada, Soch Fact Check concludes that the video is unrelated to the current protests in India.
Virality
Soch Fact Check first came across a viral post on Facebook with as many as 12,000 views and 274 likes. The clip was posted by other accounts on the platform where it garnered 31,000 and 5,100 views via separate posts.
Conclusion: The viral video of people singing along with a band is not from the recent protests sparked by the NEET paper leak in India. The clip can be traced back to an Instagram post from 14 July where it was tagged with the location of Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver, Canada.
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com