Old, unrelated image falsely shared as 'Hindu extremist' attack on Sikh man

What is the claim?

An image circulating on social media shows a man engulfed in flames as others attempt to extinguish the fire. The image is being shared with the false claim that it shows 'Hindu extremists' setting a Sikh man on fire. 

Users on X (formerly Twitter) have captioned the image with statements such as, “A helpless Sikh father trying to save his son from a fire set by H extremists and H crowd watching it cowardly. Those militants who killed Hindus were encountered, but the Sikhs have not got justice till date.” Another user claimed the man was set on fire by extremist supporters of the Indian political party Congress. Archived versions of these posts can be accessed here, here, and here.

Screenshots of the social media posts. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, this claim is false. The viral image actually shows Rajeev Goswami, an activist who attempted self-immolation in 1990 to protest the Mandal Commission's recommendations.

How did we find the truth?

A reverse image search reveals that the photograph dates back to 1990 and is unrelated to any communal violence. According to The Hindu, the image was taken during the anti-Mandal protests of that year. It features Rajeev Goswami, a student from Deshbandhu College in Delhi, who self-immolated to protest the 27 percent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Central government services and public sector jobs.

The viral image was also found on the stock image website Times Content. The description identifies the man as Rajeev Goswami, who attempted self-immolation during the anti-Mandal protests on September 19, 1990. His act sparked a series of similar protests by students against the Mandal Commission's recommendations.

The image shows an activist self-immolating during the anti-Mandal protest in 1990. (Source: Times Content/Screenshot)

Additional photos of Goswami’s self-immolation, including one by AFP photographer R. Raveendran, confirm the incident. Goswami suffered 50 percent burns and died in 2004 after years of health complications from the self-immolation.

The anti-Mandal protests

On August 7, 1990, Prime Minister V.P. Singh announced a 27 percent reservation for OBCs in Central government jobs, based on the Mandal Commission’s 1979 recommendations. This decision increased the total reservations for OBCs, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes to 49 percent. The announcement sparked widespread protests across the country, with thousands of students demonstrating. Following Goswami's self-immolation, there were numerous other immolation attempts, with historian Ramachandra Guha estimating about 200 cases and more than 60 resulting in death.

The verdict

The image from a 1990 self-immolation incident has been misleadingly circulated as evidence of 'Hindu extremists' attacking a Sikh man. The man in the photo was protesting the government’s OBC reservation policy.