Old Clip of Jairam Ramesh Making Remarks on Temples & Toilets Peddled as Recent

We found that the video dates back to 2012, when Ramesh was serving as the Union Minister for Rural Development.

Fact-Check | The video is old and is being falsely shared as a recent incident.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video of Congress leader Jairam Ramesh comparing toilets with temples is being shared on the internet as a recent incident.

About the video: The 12-second-long video shows Ramesh saying, "I understand that toilets are holier than temples."

Those sharing the video have said that Congress' hate towards the Hindu community is "never ending."

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: X (formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)

The video had garnered over 14 thousand views on the platform at the time of writing this report. (Archives of similar claims can be found here, here, and here.)

What is the truth?: While it is true that Ramesh compared temples with toilets, the video dates back to 2012 and is not recent as claimed.

• Ramesh was then serving as a Union Minister and was inaugurating a yatra to raise awareness about sanitation.

• The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had criticised Ramesh for his remarks.

How did we find that out?: On performing a keyword search on YouTube, we found a longer version of the video uploaded on the official channel of ABP News.

• The video was uploaded on 6 October 2012 and was titled, "Jairam says toilets more important in India than temples."

• The anchor said that Ramesh, who was then serving as the Union Minister for Rural Development, has stirred a controversy with his remarks.

• His remarks came during the inauguration of 'Nirmal Yatra', an initiative to raise awareness about sanitation.

• At around the 0:25 mark, Ramesh could be heard saying in Hindi, "This yatra is to build the thing which I understand is holier than temple, and that is toilet. No matter how many temples we visit, if we don't have a toilet, you will never find salvation even you crack coconuts and perform aarti."

"The most unfortunate thing in our country is that the temples are the dirtiest places. When you visit temples, you have to cover your nose. But we accept it...We have to change this thinking and we have to treat cleanliness as the true God as per the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. If we accept cleanliness as the true God then we will become a developed nation."

Jairam Ramesh, Congress leader

News reports: A report published in NDTV said that Ramesh's remarks on temples and toilets had stirred a political row. The BJP criticised the Congress leader for hurting the "fine fabric of faith and religion" in the country.

• The Congress party had too expressed their disapproval of Ramesh's remarks. The party said that it respects "the sanctity of every religious place."

The report was last updated on 7 October 2021.

(Source: NDTV/Screenshot)

Conclusion: It is clear that the video of Congress' Jairam Ramesh comparing toilets with temples is old and is not recent as claimed.

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