A video of a man making derogatory remarks against Hinduism while claiming to be a Muslim, recently gained widespread attention on social media platforms, with allegations of promoting communal discord. In the 1 minute and 43-second video clip, the turban sporting man is seen seated by the riverside and introduces himself as Javed Hussain and draws comparisons between Hindu Brahmins and 'dogs,' in addition to making other derogatory comments about Hinduism.
The video also has the voice of another person who opposes these statements and mentions that he is patiently listening to the assertions because he is a Hindu.
However, BOOM spoke to Haridwar SP City Swatantra Kumar Singh who confirmed that the individual in the video is not a Muslim as he claimed. We also found a video byte of the person where he said that his true name is Dilip Baghel, and he did the act under the influence of intoxicating substance.
Right-leaning media outlet Sudarshan News journalist Sagar Kumar posted the video with a Hindi caption that translates to, "Save my Uttarakhand".
(Original Text in Hindi: बचा लो मेरे उत्तराखंड को)
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Another user posted the video and wrote, "Meet Javed Hussain, a Muslim who pretends to be a Hindu Sadhu, begs for money, and still expresses derogatory views towards Hinduism and Hindu gods. 'Haramkhor'."
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Fact Check
BOOM went through the replies in one of the posts claiming the same about the video and found that Uttarakhand Police posted a clarification about the video on October 25, 2023.
The official X handle (formerly Twitter) of Uttarakhand Police posted a byte of the same person and wrote, "Taking cognizance of the viral video on Twitter, Haridwar police investigated and found that a person had given intoxicants to the alleged sadhu and made him use abusive language against the Hindu community and shared the video. Legal action has been taken against the alleged sadhu. Action is also being taken against the said person."
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In the video clip, the same individual can be heard stating, "I am Dilip Baghel, my father's name is Bhagwati Prashad Baghel. I reside in Dhamota village, post office - Kundol, police station Dauki in Agra district. Around 9:30-10 pm, I was approached by someone at the Ganga ghat who provided me with something to consume and asked me to identify myself as Javed Hussain... My true name is Dilip Baghel."
For further confirmation, we also reached out to Haridwar SP City Swatantra Kumar Singh to get details about the incident. Singh told BOOM that the person is a Hindu and a resident of Agra in Uttar Pradesh. When asked, he also confirmed the details mentioned by the official Twitter handle of Uttarakhand police about the video.
Singh said, "A YouTuber did the act to gain publicity. We are searching for the YouTuber. However, we arrested the person who posed as a Muslim, and he is in jail now."