Hyderabad: Circulating unverified videos on social media is not an uncommon practice in the country. Recently people of a minority community were targeted by right-wing Hindu trolls on X, with a purported video from Telangana, of a man seemingly urinating in a tub of gulab jamun.
The video surfaced on platform X and has been widely circulated, with claims that members of the minority community engage in unhygienic food practices.
A fact-check run by Alt news journalist Mohammed Zubair brought out the reality behind the video. The man was pouring a transparent liquid into the tub from a bottle. The video was cut short from its longer version to spread hate against the community.
After the video was fact-checked, AIMIM Nampally MLA Majid Hussain reached out to the Telangana police and filed a complaint following which a case was registered.
The cybercrime police have booked a case under sections 66 (C), 66(D) of the IT Act, for forging the video using technology and sections 196(1), 299, 336(4) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) for trying to create unrest and outraging religious sentiments using technology.
However, this is not the first time that right-wing tools on social media have targeted the Muslim community.
Several such videos claiming thook jihad by Muslims have been shared by right-wing trolls on social media.
‘Thook Jihad’ (Spit Jihad) like ‘Love Jihad’ is a Hindutva conspiracy theory created in an attempt to push the Muslim community towards economic marginalisation. These trolls accuse Muslims of spitting into food, on people and on all items sold.
