Fact Check: Viral video claiming ban on meat in Uttar Pradesh during Vasant Navratri is misleading

A video showing UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and an interview of several Muslim people on their reaction to the ban of meat in the state for 9 days is going viral on various social media platforms. The message shared along with the video claims that UP CM banned meat on Vasant Navratri which started on March 22, 2023. This is the first time that meat was banned marking the occasion of a Hindu festival.

The claim in Telugu goes as “శ్రీరామనవమి సందర్భంగా వసంత చైత్ర నవరాత్రులు 22 మార్చి నుండి మొదలైనాయి. ఈ తొమ్మిది రోజులూ శ్రీరామనవమి వరకు ఉత్తర ప్రదేశ్ రాష్ట్రంలో మద్యం మాంసం దుకాణాలు మొత్తం బందు చేశాడు యోగి ఆదిత్య నాథ్. చరిత్రలో మొదటిసారి ఒక హిందూ పండుగ అది కూడ తొమ్మిదిరోజులు జంతు వధలేని పండుగ 25 కోట్ల జనాభా ఉన్న రాష్ట్రమంతటా అమలు చేయడం. జై శ్రీరామ్ జై శ్రీరామ్ జై శ్రీరామ్.జయహో యోగిజి. ఇక ,మాన కచరా అనే ఊర పంది పల్లె పల్లెకు బెల్టు షాపులు పెట్టి గుడుంబా బీరు విస్కీ గుటక బ్రాందీ లతో తెలంగాణ మొత్తాన్ని నెత్తురు పీల్చి తాగి చంపుతున్నాడు.”

Some of the posts claim that the Muslims of the area have closed down their meat shops voluntarily in support of the government's decision. The interviewer is seen asking the people whether they are happy about the government's decision and most of them seem to support the decision.

Fact Check:

The claim is misleading. The video is an old one, posted in 2022, when Ghaziabad announced the ban of raw meat for 9 days marking the Chaitra Navratri festival.

After searching using keywords, we found that no such announcement was made by the Uttar Pradesh government this year.

The reporter in the video can be seen holding the mic with ‘Headlines Today’ on it.

Taking the cue, when we searched using the keywords, we found a video published by the Facebook page of Headlines India on April 5, 2022.

According to a report in The Times of India, Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation banned raw meat in the wake of Navratri on April 2, 2022. The ban was later reversed.

According to a report, Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation passed the ban order on raw meat in the whole district but then revised it stating that the ban is limited to a radius of 250 meters of any temple. Later, the Corporation issued a new order stating that the ban on raw meat has been reversed.

Hence, the viral video of the interview is an old one dated to April 2022. There is no government order banning raw meat in Uttar Pradesh. Raw meat was banned by the Ghaziabad Municipal corporation in April 2022 that was soon reversed.