Haldiram’s trends after TV reporter harasses staff over ‘Urdu’ text
Haldiram’s is trending on social media after a video emerged of a reporter harassing one of its store managers over “Urdu” text on a packet of mixture.
The snack, Falahari Mixture, is “specially made for Navratri and other fasting days”, according to Haldiram. A picture of the product on the company’s website shows text in English and Gujarati on the front, along with a green dot, symbolising it’s a vegetarian product.
In the video, the reporter, who works for the far-right Sudarshan TV, can be heard asking forcefully whether Haldiram’s is trying to conceal some facts with regard to the preparation of the ready-to-eat food item.
The reporter demands to know if the savoury item was made using “animal oil, beef oil”.
Ab HaldiRAM bhi anti-national ho gaya. pic.twitter.com/OM7FuWegoy
— Cryptic Miind (@Cryptic_Miind) April 5, 2022
“You can do whatever ma’am, Haldiram’s will not entertain such tantrums,” the manager tells the reporter, who accuses the company of “betraying Hindus who fast during Navratri”.
As the reporter continues to press, the manager explains that people of all communities come to the store, and product information is provided in other languages as well.
“Why do you have to read in Urdu, ma’am? There is English and Hindi as well,” she says.
The episode drew widespread condemnation on social media with some suggesting the writing on the packet is Arabic and is there because it is exported to the Middle East. Others supplied examples of everything from Indian Railways signages to currency notes using Urdu text.
Here is some Urdu text. Will this reporter go to the Railways and ask what it is about? #Haldirams pic.twitter.com/DGZ8KDUoXv
— Drama Prasad Mukherjee (@KSasiKL1987) April 5, 2022
Boycott Gang lets start boycott indian currency… #Urdu #haldiram #Haldirams pic.twitter.com/cW6pDgmiTp
— Prince Siddique (@PrinceSidd786) April 5, 2022
This is the haldiram falhari mixture pack. I have both the Front & Back of the Pack. The ingredients are listed in both English & Arabic on BoP. It is not Urdu, it is Arabic because most of Haldirams packs gets exported to gulf.
Common sense isn’t so common these days #Haldirams pic.twitter.com/8hQd06GFBK
— Mohammed Futurewala (@MFuturewala) April 6, 2022
In the past the Supreme Court has censured Sudarshan TV for its Islamophobic content, but the government has allowed it to air programmes on subjects like a “conspiracy to infiltrate Muslims in government service”.
The show was eventually stopped by the court, which ruled: “An insidious attempt has been made to insinuate that the community is involved in a conspiracy to infiltrate the civil services. Several statements in the episodes, which have been drawn to the attention of the Court, are not just palpably erroneous but have been made in wanton disregard of the truth.”
“The Sudarshan TV show on the infiltration of Muslims in civil services is insidious and rabid since it tends to target one particular community,” Supreme Court judge Justice DY Chandrachud said during the legal face-off over the channel’s content two years ago.
“I saw one of the episodes and it was hurtful to watch. Many pictorials are offensive and need to be taken off,” Justice Indu Malhotra said.
