Viral Dainik Jagran ad clipping on Ed-ul-Adah is morphed

Hyderabad: An ad clipping reportedly from the Hindi newspaper Dainik Jagran has gone viral on social media. Those sharing the clipping claim that the newspaper has started a campaign titled ‘One Neighborhood, One Goat’ to limit the sacrifice of goats during the festival Eid-ul-Adah.

The text on the clipping reads, “This time on Bakrid, if possible, sacrifice only one goat in the whole locality. It will increase affinity, reduce bloodshed, reduce wastage of water, and reduce the spread of filth.”

A verified Twitter user, Sujata Pandey, shared the clipping and wrote, “One Neighborhood, One Goat—an initiative by Dainik Jagran.” (Translated) (Archive)

Several Twitter and Facebook users also shared the clipping.

Fact Check

NewsMeter verified that the viral advertisement clipping is morphed. The original advertisement appeals for one Holika (bonfire) per locality to promote an environment-friendly Holika Dahan.

While verifying the authenticity of the advertisement clipping, we found the original clipping tweeted by several users. Sudarshan TV journalist Jitendra Pratap Singh tweeted the original clipping, questioning the initiative of Dainik Jagran. He asked why the newspaper was running an anti-Hindu campaign and called for a boycott of Dainik Jagran. (Archive)

Taking this as a cue, we searched for the advertisement on Dainik Jagran’s e-paper website and found it was published on 4 March in the Moradabad edition. It is titled ‘One neighbourhood, One bonfire.’

The original text reads, “This time on Holi, try lighting different Holika at a short distance, as much as possible. Burn only one Holika (bonfire) in a locality. It will reduce pollution and increase affinity. Do not block the traffic; it will cause trouble for us and you. Save high tension and other wires. Use cow dung instead of wood so that our trees can be saved. Don’t burn any stuff that pollutes the environment.”

On 8 March, Dainik Jagran also published an article reporting the success of its environmentally friendly Holi campaign in the Pratapgarh district of Uttar Pradesh.

On 7 March, the Hardoi police also took to Twitter to praise Dainik Jagran’s campaign.

From this, we conclude that the viral advertisement clipping titled ‘One Neighborhood, One Goat’ is morphed. Dainik Jagran is not running such a campaign. Hence, the claim is false.