Fact Check: Viral Video Clip of Gagan Thapa's 'Insulting Indigenous People’ Is Misleading
फागुन १५, २०८२ १४:२
Kathmandu. In recent days, a video claiming that Nepali Congress President Gagan Thapa made statements disrespectful to indigenous people has been circulating. In the video, Thapa is shown saying, “If there were no Chhetris-Brahmins in Nepal, the party wouldn’t function, and the country wouldn’t exist, and leaders of every movement have been Chhetris-Brahmins.” Fact-checking by the TechPana Fact Check Desk confirmed that the video is misleading. In reality, Thapa had made that statement 5 years ago at a program in Rolpa, quoting Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda.’ However, it has been misrepresented now as if he were expressing his own viewpoint.
Claim
On Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 4:45 a.m., a user named ‘Dev Khadka’ posted a 37-second video. The caption of the video reads, “Listen here what a goat used to say before #fypシ゚viralシ #reals.” (Translated) Below, the text overlay in the video says, “What to say now, such a lizard is a societal parasite.” (Translated) Below that, it is written ‘Gagan Thapa’s statement.’
In the video, Gagan Thapa said, “What do the indigenous people consider themselves in Nepal? By demanding all rights, what are they trying to achieve? If there were no Chhetri and Brahmins in Nepal, would any party have been able to run here? Look at your party, who runs it? Look at my party, who runs it? Look at the UML, look at the RPP, which party is run by anyone other than Chhetris and Brahmins? Who led the People’s War in Nepal? The Chhetris and Brahmins. Who led the democratic movement? The Chhetris and Brahmins. Just as the main ethnicity contributed to the success of the movement in Russia, in Nepal too, it was made successful by the Chhetris and Brahmins. So, not giving the right to place Chhetris and Brahmins in other groups, what is this nonsense of the indigenous people?” The video has garnered more than 1,800 reactions, 397 comments, more than 1100 shares, and more than 68,000 views. Check out the original video and screenplay.
Investigation
The TechPana Fact-Check Desk conducted a Google reverse image search to find other videos claiming that Gagan Thapa had made derogatory remarks against indigenous people. In the process, a user named Sujan (@Sujnpandey) posted the same video on X and wrote, “Hait! How can such a casteist person with such a condescending mentality who insults and oppresses indigenous people and Dalits, be suitable to become the Prime Minister!? 🤮” (Translated)
See the original post and screenshot.
A Facebook page named ‘Tamang Supporters' has also posted the same video. Watch the video and screenshot here.
Similarly, the video has also been posted on TikTok by an account named ‘@globalmedia0098’. The video has received more than 350,000 views, over 14,000 likes, more than 1,800 comments, and has been shared over 2,281 times. Watch the video and the original video, and screenshots.
Similarly, a user named Bhupin Rai has also shared the video on YouTube. Watch the video and screenshot here.
After noticing that the video was getting widespread discussion on various social media platforms, we extracted the keyframe and checked it on Google Advanced Search. During this process, we found a 7-minute and 18-second video uploaded on September 3, 2020, on a Facebook page named ‘Magar LaaphaTv’. Watch the video here.
Similarly, on May 23, 2019, a YouTube user named ‘Sher Bahadur Thapa’ uploaded a 27-minute and 57-second video. Watch the video here.
When we found videos uploaded by two different users at different times, we started analyzing the topics discussed in them.
At 2:13 of the 27-minute video, Gagan Thapa said, “We had gone to the houses of our friends in Congress, Maoists, and UML to discuss how to make Nepal’s Constituent Assembly successful. After reaching Prachanda’s house, he called us into his room and served black tea. We had just started our conversation after being served tea when he began moving his head around in all directions. After moving his head, he started saying, “What do these indigenous communities consider themselves in Nepal? What have they been trying to achieve by demanding all these rights and saying we want this and that? If there were no Chhetris and Brahmins in Nepal, would any party even have functioned? Look at who is running your party? Look at my party, who is running it? Look at the UML, RPP, which party is run by anyone other than Chhetris and Brahmins? Who led the Peoplé war in Nepal? Chhetris and Brahmins. Who led the democratic movement? Chhetris and Brahmins. Just as the main ethnicity made the Russian movement successful in Russia, Chhetris and Brahmins made it successful in Nepal too. So, not giving the right to place Chhetris and Brahmins in other groups, what is this nonsense of the indigenous people?” Prachanda stated.
"Then I also turned my head around the room. When I looked, the people in that room were Dahal, Bhattarai, Bhandari, KC, and only we were left.”
It is clear from this that Gagan Thapa had spoken about the matter, quoting Prachanda. He had not expressed his personal opinion in a way that would insult anyone. However, now, after six years, Gagan Thapa has gone viral through a 27-second segment of that video, which has been edited to make it seem as if Gagan Thapa had insulted someone.
Claim
Nepali Congress President Gagan Thapa made a statement insulting indigenous nationalities, saying, “If there were no Chhetris and Brahmins in Nepal, neither the party would function nor would the country run, and every movement has been led by the Chhetris and Brahmins.”
Claimants
Facebook pages and users named ‘Dev Khadka’, ‘Tamang Samarthak’, ‘Bhupin Rai’, TikTok user named ‘@globalmedia0098’, X user (@Sujnpandey), YouTube user named Bhupin Rai, and others.
Fact
According to research by the Techpana Fact-Check Desk, the viral video is at least 6 years old (around 2019). Watching the original 27-minute and 57-second video on YouTube shows that Gagan Thapa did not present the statement as his own view. Recalling his meeting with Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’at his residence during the time of constitution drafting, Thapa quoted exactly what Prachanda said. On social media, the original video was cut, leaving only a 27 to 37-second segment, making it appear as if it was Gagan Thapa’s own statement.
Conclusion
The claim that Gagan Thapa expressed his personal opinion in a way that insults indigenous people is misleading.
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पछिल्लो अध्यावधिक: फागुन १५, २०८२ १४:२
