Scroll, the leftist propaganda blog became one of the latest publication to spread the misinformation and lies about the decision and impact of crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses by the Uttar Pradesh government.
The propaganda blog wrote an article titled:
UP: Lucknow’s legendary Tunday Kababi downs its shutters as meat crackdown intensifies
Read the headline again. Not only it fails to clarify that the crackdown is against illegal slaughterhouses and not against “meat”, it suggests as if the famous Kabab joint in Lucknow had gone out of business. If there was an award for dishonestly crafting a sentence to push a propaganda, Scroll wins it hands down right there.
The propaganda worked as news portal Firstpost published a report, making the Scroll article their source, and titled it “Tunday Kababi in Lucknow shuts down after Yogi Adityanath announces UP slaughterhouse ban“.
Since most people read just headlines, it was widely believed that a legendary eatery had gone out of business.
Seizing the opportunity, eminent journalists soon jumped on the outrage bandwagon and lamented about the loss of Lucknow’s joy and history:
If so this is beyond terrible. Would expect @UPGovt to step in here.Tunday Kababi is part of Lucknow’s joy and history. https://t.co/Gdex9hiCQJ
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) March 23, 2017
Just as the masses were beginning to wonder if the joint would ever open for business, people started tweeting pictures which showed the Kabab joint was not just open but was buzzing with activity:
Delhi is spreading rumors about Tundey Kebabi Aminabad being shut, It was closed for an hour due to shortage of raw material. #LivePictures pic.twitter.com/JV9mPlMwov
— Vedank Singh (@VedankSingh) March 23, 2017
Dear all, the Kapurthala one is open too..so please quit the maatam for Lucknawi cuisine ..#Lucknow#MeatBanhttps://t.co/MYkK3jLESs
— Dr Sumita Misra IAS (@sumitamisra) March 23, 2017
The truth is, the eatery was closed temporarily on Wednesday due to the lack of meat as illegal slaughterhouses are being closed down. The eatery was opened today, though it was unable to serve buffalo meat and mutton as it couldn’t source the meat.
This, however, raises the questions if the eatery, which opened way back in 1905, had been sourcing all its meat from illegal slaughterhouses? Because the state government has clarified that licensed slaughterhouses would be allowed to function as usual.
Perhaps yes, because a journalist named Faisal Fareed reported that there was no legal slaughterhouse in Lucknow! This is in line with a report that was published last year:
Lucknow does not have any legal slaughter house. After 110 years Tunday Kababi shop in old Lucknow ws closed yesterday due to meat shortage.
— FAISAL FAREED (@postfaisal) March 23, 2017
So apart from reaffirming the website Scroll as a leftist propaganda blog, the incident reaffirms how businesses, right in the capital city of Uttar Pradesh, could have been running without following rules and regulations all these years. This exposes the level of law enforcement by earlier regimes.
Strangely, the media could never spot an opportunity for an investigative report about how popular eateries could be willingly or unwillingly helping illegal businesses by sourcing raw materials from them?
UPDATE: After our report, Scroll changed their headline as well as content in their original news report.
