An old video of Tamil Nadu activist Piyush Manush being beaten up by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers is being shared on social media with a false claim that he was recently assaulted for speaking on the Tirupati laddus controversy.
Recent allegations that animal fat was found in the laddus at the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Tirumala have sparked a major political row in Andhra Pradesh and across the country, with the ruling TDP, led by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, blaming the former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s government and the latter calling Naidu's allegations baseless.
The viral video was posted on X by the handle Kanishka Dadhich with the caption, "Piyush Manush, the guy who mocked HINDUS with a video titled "Beef Laddoo for all HINDUS delivered by Perumal himself" has got a better TREATMENT at Salem, TAMIL NADU. Good RESISTANCE"
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral video is from August 2019, when activist Piyush Manush was thrashed by BJP workers in the Salem, Tamil Nadu after a heated argument broke out at the BJP party office in Salem, Tamil Nadu.
Incident of Piyush Manush being beaten is from 2019
We ran a keyword search with "Piyush Manush beaten" and found several news reports from August 2019, which had frames from the viral video of Manush being assaulted by BJP workers. This incident clearly per-dates the recent controversy over the Tirupati laddus row.
In August 2019, The News Minute reported that environmental activist Piyush Manush was assaulted by BJP workers in Salem following a heated argument at the party office. What began as a verbal dispute escalated into a violent altercation, with several party workers physically attacking Manush.
The report further added that Manush had posted on his Facebook page about his impending visit to the BJP office a day earlier on seeking their views on "the economy, Kashmir crisis".
Several leaders from Tamil Nadu had then condemned the incident including current Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K Stalin.
We also found the same visuals of Manush being attacked that was posted on YouTube by the channel NewsGlitz Tamil on August 28, 2019. This can be seen below:
Piyush Manush X posts on Tirupati Laddus row
Manush had also posted on the viral video stating that it is from 2019. Manush posted saying, "Sonki Monki's are circulating a video from 2019. I went to the BJP office visit was to question about Kashmir. 30 rabid cadres of BJP attacked me resulting in one scratch on me. Anyways Sonki Monki's are now rejoicing that they inflicted a scratch five years back."
Additionally, Manush has posted on the Tirupati laddus controversy when he posted a video on September 19, 2024, commenting on the incident with the caption, "Beef laddoo for all hindus delivered by Perumal himself !!" This caption is being referenced in the viral posts making the false claim that he was beaten for posting this.
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