On May 30, a Twitter user named Friends of Kashmir 6 had shared a contentious video of a man torturing a victim to claim that minorities were unsafe in ‘fascist’ India. He wrote, “In India, a Muslim man being forced to lick a Hindu’s spit. Most probably to break his Ramadan fast…!”
In the video, the perpetrator could be seen slapping a victim and forcing him to do sit-ups. He then spits on the bonnet of a nearby car and forces the victim to lick it. While torturing the man dressed in white, the accused could be heard saying, “Kyu bola Ramzan ka Naam? Aab bolega Ramzan ka naam? Tere ko DCP ko du kya?”
The loose translation goes as “Why did you confess Ramzan’s name? Will you dare to say now? Should I hand you over to the DCP?” This video was also shared last week with a similar communal angle by a man named Shaikh Azirur Rahman who, according to his Facebook profile, is a journalist with The Guardian. Rahman has now deleted the video.
#300DaysOfKashmirSiege
— FriendsofKashmir6 (@FKashmir6) May 30, 2020
In India, A #Muslim man being forced to lick a #Hindu‘s spit. Most probably to break his Ramadan fast…..!
Vehicle’s windshield reveals that the incident is from #Surat….!
Minorities are unsafe in fascist India…!@KathradaFound @salaamedia @SAMNET786 pic.twitter.com/2OANPffFEj
What is the Truth?
According to a report by The Times of India, the disturbing incident took place in the Limbayat area of Surat in Gujarat. It was first reported by TV9 Gujarati on April 7. The man seen slapping the victim has been identified as Salman. Both the persons in the video are from the Muslim community. Salman did not want the victim to testify against another man named Ramzan and was thus seen torturing the victim.
The said incident was also covered by Divya Bhaskar in detail. As per the report, the vehicle seen in the background of the contentious video belonged to the Surat Municipal Corporation’s garden department. Police inspector (Limbayat) also assured that a complaint would be lodged against the accused. The festival of Ramzan commenced on April 24 this year. As such, the incident predates the festival. Therefore, the viral claim that a Muslim man was forced to lick the spit of a Hindu man in the month of Ramzan is false.
Communally-charged Fake News amidst Coronavirus pandemic
This is not the first time that a communal angle was given to a criminal act to cast aspersions about the Hindu community, amidst the Coronavirus pandemic. Earlier, a Twitter user named Kamran had shared the fake news of Brahmins allegedly severing the tongue of a 16-year-old girl in the Bhadaval village of Uttar Pradesh to protect the village from the wrath. According to the fake news peddler, the tongue was sacrificed as a religious offering to a nearby Shivji’s temple. However, police investigation revealed that the girl had herself cut off her tongue and was not coerced into committing the gory act.
