No, Man Objecting to Cow Slaughter in Srinagar Isn't a Kashmiri Pandit

The video shows a man named Arif Jan objecting to the place of slaughter because of hygiene.

Social media users falsely claimed that the man seen in the viral video is a Kashmiri Pandit objecting to the slaughtering of a cow.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video of an altercation over cow slaughter in Srinagar is being shared on social media to claim that the man, who can be heard objecting to the slaughter, is a Kashmiri Pandit.

However, we found that the claim is misleading. The man recording the video has been identified as one Arif Jan, who himself has clarified that he is not a Kashmiri Pandit. He further added that his objection was limited to the place where the men were slaughtering the cows because his house shares a wall with it.

CLAIM

The claim along with the video reads: "एक कश्मीरी पंडित ने कई मुस्लिम कसाई के खिलाफ कश्मीर में गाय का वध करने के लिए आप सभी हिंदुओं द्वारा प्यार और समर्थन। सभी हिंदुओं को केवल वीडियो को RT करके इस अज्ञात पंडित का समर्थन करना चाहिए।"

(Translated: A Kashmiri Pandit objected to cow slaughtering carried out by Muslims in Kashmir. All Hindus share love and support. All Hindus should support this unknown Pandit by just retweeting the video)

You can view the archived version here.

(Source: Twitter/ Screenshot)

Several Facebook users shared the video with a similar claim and the archived version of the posts can be viewed here, here, and here.

The video is viral on Facebook.

(Source: Facebook/ Screenshot)

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We divided the video into multiple keyframes using InVID and reverse searched them on Google. This led us to a tweet shared by a user Ankur Sharma on 5 August.

The tweet carrying the viral visuals mentioned that the incident happened in Srinagar and that the man objected to the slaughtering on the grounds of hygiene.

The tweet shared on 5 August carried the viral video.

(Source: Twitter/ Screenshot)

VIDEO SHOT BY A MUSLIM, NOT KASHMIRI PANDIT

We then searched on Facebook with the help of relevant keywords and came across a post shared by one Arif Jan who claimed that he was opposing the place chosen for slaughtering animals as it was located near his kitchen wall.

Facebook User Arif Jan claimed that he had shot the video.

(Source: Facebook/ Screenshot)

Speaking to The Quint's WebQoof team, Jan said that he had shot the video nearly two and a half months ago during Eid-al-Adha. "They are claiming that the person seen in the video is a Hindu, a Kashmiri Pandit but that is not true, I am a Muslim," he added.

He further said that his objection was due to the blood and remains of the animal that are left behind, and that creates a problem for his family.

"I asked them to carry out the slaughtering somewhere else and I have done this before. I didn't face any trouble when I objected to the slaughtering. I went to the mosque committee and they solved the matter. But I have faced issues due to this viral claim."

Arif Jan

We have also verified the identity of the man in the video with Arif Jan. However, we are not including Jan's picture on his request.

WHAT DOES THE MOSQUE COMMITTEE HAVE TO SAY?

Ghulam Rasool Kara, chairman of Falah Behbood Committee told fact-checking website Alt News that the issue related to the place of sacrifice was resolved two months ago.

"This issue was resolved about two months ago. The crux of the issue was the place of sacrifice. Requests made by Arif Jan were practical. I would like to further point out that such conflicts aren't common. The committee reiterated to the concerned neighbourhood that mass sacrificial rituals should not happen in close proximity of the residence and the property of masjid committee should be used," he added.

Evidently, social media users have shared the video with a misleading claim.

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