Amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the Uttar Pradesh government's directive for hawkers and shopkeepers along the Kanwar Yatra route to display signboards with their names, a video has surfaced on social media, sparking outrage. The video purportedly shows a man, labelled by several right-wing X users as Muslim, urinating into a tub of sweets.
The video has been widely shared and used to question public figures like actor Sonu Sood and journalist Rajdeep Sardesai and others who have criticised the UP government's decision.
Sonu Sood responded on X with a message promoting unity: "There should be only one name plate on every shop: 'HUMANITY'."
Rajdeep Sardesai also commented, criticising the underlying prejudice in the Kanwar Yatra order: "Morning musing: Of all the deplorable justifications to the brazenly divisive Kanwar Yatra order, which is de facto an economic boycott, the one that is most troubling (and offensive) is to suggest that the food habits and places of a particular community are unhygienic! Fact is, we ALL could do with lessons in better hygiene. Just see the state of so many of our kitchens, public places, including places of worship and ‘holy’ cities and you will know what I am saying. Swacchta/hygiene remains a challenge and those who talk about it as community-specific only reflect their communal and, dare I also say, caste bias."
The posts challenge them to respond to the incident, implying a communal bias in their stance on the Kanwar Yatra order.
However, a fact-check by Alt News has revealed the truth behind the viral video. Originally circulated in May 2023, the video was shared with claims that an 'enemy of Hindus' was urinating in gulab jamuns during the wedding season. It was accompanied by warnings to check the Aadhaar card of confectioners before hiring their workers.
Alt News discovered a longer version of the video on Instagram, uploaded by user @ashiq.billota. In the extended clip, it becomes clear that the man is pouring a liquid from a bottle into the tub, not urinating. The final frames of the original video were edited out in the viral version to create a misleading narrative.
