Fact Check: Old video of cook spitting on rotis in Ghaziabad dhaba falsely linked to Kanwar Yatra pilgrims
A viral video claims a cook spit on rotis served to Hindu Kanwariyas, while eateries have been mandated by Yogi Adityanath to display their owners' names.
By Sibahathulla Sakib Published on 19 July 2024 11:27 AM GMT
Claim: The video shows a cook in a Ghaziabad eatery spitting on rotis served to Hindu Kanwariyas.
Fact: The claim is false. The video is from 2021 and is unrelated to the Kanwar Yatra or the pilgrims.
Hyderabad: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has recently issued a mandate for eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display the names of their owners.
In light of this directive, a video has gone viral with the claim that a cook named Tamizuddin was seen spitting on rotis served to Hindu Kanwariyas, the pilgrims who take the route.
An X user shared the video with the caption āA cook named Tamizuddin, working at a dhaba in Ghaziabad, was seen spitting on the rotis. Why should Hindu Kanwadis along with the entire Hindu community be forced to eat this food? (translated from Hindi)ā
The 33-second-long video can be seen here and here.
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false.
A reverse image search of a screenshot of the video led us to the same video on an X post from October 17, 2021, with the caption, āA video of a chicken joint in Ghaziabad has surfaced in which a man can be seen making rotis by spitting on them.ā
This indicated that the video was not recent.
Using the information in the tweet, we did a keyword search and reached a News18 report titled, āWATCH: Man Spits On Tandoori Roti While Cooking in Ghaziabad Dhaba, Arrested.ā
Screenshots of the viral video can be seen in the news report. The report confirmed that the man, identified as Tamizuddin from Kishanganj, Bihar, was arrested for spitting on rotis while making them. According to the report, Tamizuddin was apprehended and sent to jail and an FIR was registered against him.
We also found the same details in a report by India Times with the headline āGhaziabad: Dhaba Worker Caught Spitting On Rotis Before Placing Them In Tandoor In Viral Videoā. The video is dated October 19, 2021.
According to the report, the dhaba is called Chicken Point and the video was recorded by a customer who had come to eat there.
We also came across a report on India.com stating that Tameezuddin was arrested under sections 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the Indian Penal Code. However, he was granted bail by the city magistrateās court the following Monday.
None of the articles have any mention of Hindu Kanwariyas or that the crime was intended to hurt a particular religious community.
Hence, we conclude that the claim that the video shows a cook spitting on rotis served to Hindu Kanwariyas during the Kanwar Yatra in 2024 is false. The video is from 2021 and is unrelated to the religious yatra.
