Video of a man made to lick spit in Surat shared with a communal angle

June 1, 2020 Sai Keerthi

Spread the truth:

A viral video doing the rounds on social media from Surat shows a man being harassed before he’s made to lick the spit of the other person. The video has gone viral with the caption that the man harassing is a Hindu and the other, is a Muslim. Screenshots of the video is as follows and the entire video can be viewed here.

Twitter

@CommissionerSMC Extremely disturbing vdo allegedly from Surat. A Muslim is being made to lick someone’s spit so it breaks his ramadan fast. It appears from vehicle that perpetrator and/or victim is related to Surat Municipal Corp. Tags 4 action@DMO_Surat @OurSMC @CP_SuratCity pic.twitter.com/B73zIxFyhw

— 🌹المحاميه / دلال العجمي-باحث دكتوراه بالقانون ⚖️ (@Dalal_alajmi_) May 29, 2020

Facebook

On Facebook, the video was shared on May 29th by Shaikh Azizur Rahman, a freelance journalist based out of West Bengal who is a special correspondent for The Guardian. The caption for the post was published in both Bengali and English and is as follows:

“ভিডিওতে দেখা যাচ্ছে, একজন দুর্বল মানুষকে তার চেয়ে কম বয়সী একজন যুবক পিটাচ্ছে ও কান ধরে উঠবোস করাচ্ছে। কি কারণে ছেলেটি লোকটিকে মারছে তা স্পষ্ট নয়।তবে বোঝা যাচ্ছে- লোকটি রোজা রেখেছে অর্থাৎ সে মুসলমান। এটি জানার পর ছেলেটি যে আরো হিংস্র হয়ে উঠছে তা এই ভিডিওতে স্পষ্ট। ছেলেটি একটি গাড়ীর বনেটের উপর থুথু ফেলে লোকটিকে তা চাটতে বাধ্য করছে; উদ্দেশ্য মাঝপথে রোজা ভাঙ্গিয়ে তার আত্মমর্যাদাকেও দুমড়ে মুচড়ে দেওয়া।এই ঘটনাটি গুজরাটের সুরাটে ঘটেছে রমজান মাসে; কয়েকদিন আগে। এক গুজরাটি বন্ধু জানাচ্ছে- এই হিন্দু ছেলেটি সুরাট মিউনিসিপ্যাল কর্পোরেশনের ভাড়া করা একটি গাড়ীর ড্রাইভার।ভিডিওর সূত্র ধরে পুলিসের পক্ষে এই ছেলেটিকে গ্রেফতার করে তার বিরুদ্ধে কড়া আইনী ব্যবস্থা নেওয়া অবশ্যই সম্ভব। কিন্তু এই ধরণের সাম্প্রদায়িক ঘটনায় বেশীর ভাগ ক্ষেত্রে ভারতীয় পুলিশ তেমন কড়া পদক্ষেপ নেয় না। তাই এই ধরণের ঘটনা এদেশে ঘটতেই থাকে।”

The translation for the above is as follows: “It appears, this incident took place in Surat, Gujarat, a few days ago, during the month of Ramadaan. In this video, a youth is found beating a Muslim man and forcing him to do sit-ups, holding his ears. The young man appears to be a Hindu. It’s not clear why exactly the Hindu youth attacked the Muslim man. But, we can figure out from the video that the moment the youth finds that the man is Muslim and is on Ramadaan fast, he turns more violent. The youth spits on the bonnet of a car and forces the Muslim man to lick it, apparently to humiliate and force him to break his Ramadaan fast halfway. A friend from Gujarat informs that the youth is Hindu and happens to be a driver of a private car hired by the Surat Municipal Corporation. It is quite easy for the police to track down the driver and take strict legal action against him, if they want. But in India police often do not act against the perpetrators, in the case of such communal incidents. So, such incidents keep recurring.”

Post

Truth

After a Google keyword search, a video uploaded by TV9 Gujarati states that the incident in question took place in the Limbayat area of Surat. During the broadcast of the news package, the reported had informed that the man seen harassing the other goes by the name of Salman. The same information was confirmed by ABP Gujarati.

The video can be viewed here.

The video can be found here.

The news was reported on 7th April which is before Ramadan had started. Therefore the claim of the above incident happening as a result of humiliating a man on a Ramadan fast is false

As per reports by Dainik Bhaskar and Divya Bhaskar , the accused that has been identified as Salman was thrashing the other individual as the latter had testified against the accused by the name of ‘Ramzan’. This can be heard in the video where the individual identified as Salman is heard saying in Hindi, ““Will you now confess Ramzan’s name? Should I give [you] to the DCP? Will you confess Ramzan’s name? C’mon strip naked. Should I strip you naked and parade you publicly?” These lines can be heard from the 38th second mark and the accused is seen repeatedly slapping the man in question. Speculations with respect to the incident happening during the Ramadan period is possibly due to the use of the name ‘Ramzan’.

According to reports from Boom, VM Makwana, Police Inspector, Limbayat police station confirmed the video and said the incident is from April 6, 2020, and that the arrested accused has been identified as Salman Jan Mohammad Ansari (23) and the victim as Aslam Abdul Salam Ansari (25). He added that the video which is since viral, was recorded by a minor accompanying the accused.

Alt News spoke with Makwana who confirmed that a complaint has been filed. “Both the men in the video are from the Muslim community. Therefore the social media claim is wrong.”

Hence, according to the above reports, it is clear that both men belong to the same community and hence the video has been shared with a false communal angle.