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Protests organised by the satirical Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) in New Delhi in late July 2026 drew large crowds and support from opposition leaders, activists and celebrities, but social media posts claiming to show NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay in attendance are false. The footage they share predates the demonstrations in India's capital .
"Ma'am Sunita William at Jantar Mantar," says an X post shared on July 19.
The post includes a 14-second clip of Williams surrounded by a group of people and security personnel.
The American astronaut of Indian origin had a distinguished career with NASA spanning nearly three decades before retiring in December ( archived link ).
Other X posts share footage of Indian actor-turned-politician Vijay moving through a dense crowd, claiming he had arrived at Jantar Mantar, a landmark observatory in New Delhi.
The same videos spread in similar Facebook , Instagram and X posts , with comments suggesting some users believed they were recent.
The visuals accumulated tens of thousands of interactions online before protesters in New Delhi tried to march on parliament to demand the resignation of the education minister over irregularities in major examinations ( archived link ).
The protesters, mostly young students, ran for cover as police baton-charged them and fired tear gas shells.
The demonstrations came after prominent activist Sonam Wangchuk was forcibly taken to hospital on July 18, bringing an abrupt end to his 20-day hunger strike in support of youths and the CJP, a play on the name of the country's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The movement is seen as one of the biggest challenges to Hindu-nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he won his third term in office in 2024.
Several celebrities have shown their support for the protests, which erupted on the first day of parliament's monsoon session ( archived link ).
However, the footage shared online is unrelated -- both clips predate the CJP demonstrations by several months . AFP found no official reports of Williams or Vijay attending the protests .
January footage of Williams
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the first falsely shared video led to the same footage published in an Instagram post on January 23 ( archived link ).
The caption reads: "Sunita Williams is a brave and inspiring astronaut who showed the world that nothing is impossible".
The post includes #klf, referencing the Kerala Literature Festival .
Williams also appears to be wearing an identity card with KLF on it, as shown in similar visuals shared on X ( archived link ).
She visited India for the first time in nearly a decade in January to attend the Kerala Literature Festival in the southern coastal city of Kozhikode ( archived link ).
Several news outlets covered Williams's attendance , with photos showing her in clothes that match the footage circulating online (archived link here and here ).
The astronaut inaugurated the ninth edition of the four-day literary event at Kozhikode Beach on January 22 and also participated in several sessions.
AFP contacted Williams for comment, but a response was not forthcoming.
Old visuals of Vijay
A reverse image search for keyframes from the second video surfaced an Instagram post published on May 4 ( archived link ).
The caption reads: "Always a fan girl cm uncle @actorvijay".
Indian news agency ANI published a similar visual on X the same day with a caption that says: "Tamil Nadu | TVK chief Vijay arrives at his parents' residence in Chennai" ( archived link ).
The footage spread across social media after a historic win by Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam party in Tamil Nadu state legislative assembly polls (archived link here , here and here ).
Vijay was sworn in as chief minister on May 10 after his two-year-old party brokered a coalition in the southern industrial hub ( archived link ).
A reverse image search on Google for the other video of Vijay led to a clip shared July 13 on Instagram by a correspondent for local broadcaster Puthiya Thalaimurai TV ( archived link ).
The Tamil-language caption reads: "In Perambur, a mobile phone flew towards him; Chief Minister Vijay instructed that the phone be handed over to its rightful owner".
The journalist, Veerakumar, confirmed to AFP on July 21 that he took the footage eight days prior when Vijay visited the Perambur neighbourhood of Chennai city to inaugurate a revamped constituency office .
Several other news organisations reported on the chief minister's visit that day, when he also distributed food ration cards and inspected local infrastructure (archived link here and here ).
Footage published in the reports resembles that shared in the false social media posts, with Vijay wearing the same clothes ( archived link ).
AFP contacted the politician for comment, but a response was not forthcoming.
AFP has previously debunked other claims related to the CJP, which has won millions of followers on social media since its launch in May .
