Eid, Edited, Engineered: The Never-Ending Trail of Disinformation Against Kerala

A private school’s Eid celebration was reframed online as proof of religious indoctrination in Kerala’s schools. The claim is false—but familiar. This fact-check unpacks how recycled visuals are repeatedly used to push communal narratives against the state.

On January 11, 2026, a social media user on X (formerly Twitter) shared a video  of students imitating Tawaf, an  Islamic term for pilgrims walking in circles around the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, inside a school premises in Kerala. The caption indicates that under the banner of secularism, schools in Kerala are promoting Islamic culture. We noticed that the same video was viral in July 2025, with captions suggesting that government schools in Kerala are teaching Islamic practices. The school depicted in the video is an Islamic management institution and showcases the celebration of Eid al-Adha, making the post misleading. Our investigations revealed several occasions when Kerala is subjected to false communal claims, often targeting the Muslim community and the secular framework of the state. In a Verified report dated November 15, 2025, we debunked a similar false communal claim targeting government schools in Kerala.

What do we know about the viral video?

On January 11, देश की बेटी इंदु (which translates to “Indu, the daughter of the nation”), a right-wing troll account on X, which often targets the Indian National Congress, used hashtags such as #IranRevolution2026, #Iran, #IranProtests, and #DigitalBlackoutIran, and shared a post that features a school in Kerala where students are performing the Tawaf. The video shows students in Islamic attire circumambulating a three-dimensional model of Kaaba.

As of January 12, no netizens have come forward either supporting or criticising the post.

We identified that the video previously went viral in July 2025.

An X user shared the video on July 4, 2025, with the caption,”💯 Literacy being achieved in Kerala.”

As of January 12, the post has received 12,400 views, 736 likes, and has been reposted 178 times.

Responding to a user,”Is this allowed in their religion? Isn’t this blasphemy?” Another remarked,”Great, they teach everything.”

A Facebook page ചോറ്റാനിക്കര ജംഗ്ഷൻ (Chottanikkara Junction), shared the same video on July 2, 2025, suggesting that government schools in Kerala are promoting Islamic practices under the facade of secularism. The Malayalam caption translates to,”Children are being taught the rituals of going on Hajj and performing Umrah in a public school. If we were to set up a stage in the schoolyard to perform Umrah, dress children in Hajj pilgrim costumes, and train them in the Umrah rituals, just think of where this country has come to!”

A user responded to the post using a Manorama report dated July 7, 2025, which refutes any communal angle attributed to the video.

How did we verify and debunk the claim?

We analysed the video and noticed that a keyframe from the video depicts the name of the school as ABS Global School.

The geolocation and a comparison of the keyframes of the viral video with a Google Map photo from 2021 confirmed that the video was filmed at ABS Global School, Thrikaripur, Kasargod, Kerala.

An examination of the ABS Global School’s official YouTube channel led us to a YouTube Shorts video dated June 3, 2025, which is similar to the viral video and shows students performing Tawaf filmed from a different angle.The writing displayed on the stage in the video states, “Happy Eid ul Adha Mubarak,” indicating that the video features an Eid celebration. A keyframe comparison of both videos establishes that they depict the same event.

In addition to the Eid celebration, videos of various events celebrated at the school since the start of the 2025-26 academic year, such as Environment Day and Doctors’ Day, have also been shared on the ABS Global School’s official social media account.

The government and aided schools in Kerala receive government funds. We examined the list of district-wise government and aided schools available on the Kerala Education Department’s portal and clarified that ABS Global School is not listed. It is confirmed that  that the school is neither a government school nor an aided one 

The analysis, therefore, revealed that an old video of Eid al-Adha celebration at a privately owned school in Kerala was shared online with a false communal spin.