Fact Check: Did Ram, Lakshman feature alongside Ambedkar, Tipu Sultan on DYFI Karnataka's poster?

A poster released by the Karnataka state unit of the DYFI, the youth organisation affiliated with the CPI-M, has kicked up social media discussions in the neighbouring state of Kerala. The poster announcing the date and venue of the 12th state conference of the Left organisation contained photos of several revolutionaries and socio-political figures. 

Karl Marx, Che Guevara, Dr BR Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh and Tipu Sultan were among the handful of personalities featured on the poster. Among them, on the bottom, were the images of two men donning crowns and armed with bows and arrows. Several Facebook users in Kerala, currently run by a CPM-led LDF government, pointed out that Lord Ram and Lakshman were featured in the poster of the communist organisation. 

The bow and arrow donning Hindu Gods have been adopted by the DYFI as its new icons, some users criticised. The poster design was an impact of Ayodhya temple consecration, yet others commented. 

DYFI was ridiculed over the poster | Facebook screengrab

However, the allegation was vehemently denied by several Left handles in the comment boxes on multiple discussions. Many of them claimed that the photo belonged to "Tulu twins who were social reformers."

Who are the figures to feature on the poster? Did the organisation accidentally, or otherwise, use the image of the Hindu deities in its design? We checked.

Identifying the image

We began by confirming that the poster in question was legit and not morphed. The poster was found on the official Facebook page of DYFI Karnataka. It was uploaded on January 29. The image of the two men was indeed part of the design, it confirmed.

When the said portion of the poster was cropped and reverse searched on Google, the results showed a handful of YouTube videos in Kannada. The thumbnail of the videos had the same image. The English title of the videos read, 'Koti-Chennaya Pardhana Samputa.'

A Google reverse search proved that the image was earlier used to represent Koti and Chennaya

Who was Koti and Chennaya? 

To find out more we ran a keyword search for "Koti-Chennaya" on Google. The results indeed confirmed that the photo represented Tulunadu-based twin brothers from medieval times.

Koti and Chennaya are believed to have lived  in Tulunadu between 1500 to 1600 AD Tulunadu was composed of areas in and around Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and Kasaragod districts of Karnataka and Kerala

They were born in Padumale in Puttur taluk of Dakshina Kannada and died in combat fighting King Perumal Ballal, the Times Of India said in a 2016 report. The news article elaborated on the Karnataka government's decision to renovate "the birthplace of Koti-Chennaya, legendary twin heroes characterized in the Tulu epic of the same name".

A 2021 Mumbai Mirror report further elaborated on the story of the twin brothers.  A 2021 Mumbai Mirror report further elaborated on the story of the twin brothers. 

"There is also the Tulu story of Koti Chennaya of the Billava community narrated in Karnataka. The two brothers are much admired even today, whose skill in farming makes the king’s minister jealous and he floods their fields before harvest. In the fight that follows, the minister is killed and the brothers are forced to migrate elsewhere. Another king gives them land, but they kill a wild boar that a neighbouring king declares to be under his protection. War follows in which Koti is treacherously killed by an arrow shot from behind and a heartbroken Chennaya smashes his head against a rock and kills himself. The two brothers become guardian spirits who fight against injustice."

Thus, it was evident that the communist organisation didn't use the Hindu Gods Ram and Lakshman in their poster. It was the illustration available on the internet as that of the Koti-Chennaya twins that found a place on the design.

The 12th DYFI Karnataka State Conference will be held in Mangaluru on February 25, 26 and 27.

FACT CHECK

Claim: DYFI used Ram and Lakshman in a poster ahead of its state conference in Karnataka

Verdict: Not True

Fact: The caricature shows the Koti-Chennaya twins from a Tulunadu epic. They are unrelated to Ramayana.