“Naam batane se ‘jhatka’ (shock at revealing the name)?” This was the top news on News18’s primetime show Desh Nahi Jhukne Denge on July 18 as anchor Aman Chopra hammered that the Uttar Pradesh police’s order directing shops and eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display the names of owners and staffers is “very secular”.  

Chopra, however, did not hesitate to kick off his show with a purported, pointless jibe on the Muslim community with repeated emphasis on ‘jhatka’ – a colloquial term for meat from an animal killed by a single strike, as opposed to halal, which is usually preferred by Muslims – setting the tone for the show.

After a sermon on the “shudhta” or “purity” of the month of sawan, during which many devotees or kawariyas make long trips to Shiv temples, Chopra invoked the Hindus’ “right to cleanliness” and “right to purity”. He claimed that in the past, there have been “instances” where Hindu devotees’ “purity was violated” due to the “misconception” caused by the name of the shop. Not difficult to infer, he was referring to shops owned by Muslims.     

Chopra said in Hindi: “Pehle aise mamle samne aa chuke hain jisme pavitrata bhang hui, jisme dukano ke aise naam the jisse bhram hua, aur kanoon vyavasta bigadne ki naubat aayi…suchita bahot zaruri hain, shudhta bahot zaruri hain. Shudhta ka adhikar bahot zaruri hain. Ye meri nazar mein Yogi ka uphar tha kawariyon ke liye…Kuch log isse baat rahe hain, Hindu-Muslim. Par ye faisla Amar ke liye bhi tha, Akbar ke liye bhi tha, aur anthony ke liye bhi tha…Ye bahot secular faisla hain.”   

Loosely translated: “In the past, incidents have happened in which the purity was violated because of the misconception due to the names of the shops. And it caused a law and order issue… Cleanliness is very important, purity is very important. The right to purity is very important. In my view, this was the gift of Yogi for kawariyon… Some people are dividing it on Hindu-Muslim lines. But this decision was for Amar, it was for Akbar, and it was for Anthony too…This is a very secular decision.”

Was Chopra implying that Hindu devotees’ “purity” will be violated if they eat at a Muslim-owned eatery? To clear any doubts, the show included a “ground report” segment for a “reality test” with clips of Muslim-owned eateries and a Muslim man named Farman saying that he owned an eatery named Shiva Golden Dhaba. It also included a host of statements by “locals” and “religious leaders” advocating for “sanatani-owned” eateries for Hindu devotees.       

In his long pitch to defend the police order, Chopra used the word “secular” more than a dozen times. And often after airing video clips of public personalities and leaders criticising the UP government’s decision. The critics are saying that it violates the constitution, is an economic boycott of the Muslim community, akin to discrimination practiced by the Nazis, and would decimate Muslims to second class citizenship. 

But Chopra quickly declared: “Ye chah rahe hain ki farziwada chalta rahe (they want the fraud to continue).” He said: “Ye faisla secular hain…Kyunki ismein Hindu bhavnaon ka bhi dhyan rakha gaya hain. Agar ye sirf ek paksha ka dhyan rakha jaega toh communal hoga. Par ye Hindu Muslim dono ke liye hain. (this decision is secular because it is also considerate towards Hindu sentiments. If it was only for one community, it would have been communal. But this is for both Hindus and Muslims).”  

The anchor asked, “Ab isme Hindu Musalman kahan se aagya (from where has Hindu Muslim come up)?” and answered himself: “Be faltu (for nothing).” He said it was a “gift” from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for the kawariya.   

Revisiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s fish and mutton jibe on opposition leaders amid the Lok Sabha polls, Chopra even exemplified his argument in a post on X. He said the police order is being opposed by those who “tease by uploading videos of them consuming ‘mutton in Sawan’ and ‘fish in Navratri'.”

On the show, calling the decision “sundar”, or “beautiful” and “bahot zaruri”, or “very important”, Chopra seemed baffled that “so called” seculars, including the Congress party, the Samajwadi Party, Akhilesh Yadav, and Javed Akhtar, were against a “very secular decision”. 

Amid this, the banner texts that flashed on the screen pointed to shop owners, ostensibly Muslims, “cheating” customers by not displaying their “real name”. 

They read: “Asli naam batane mein problem kya (what is the problem in telling the real name)?”, “Vivad ka mauka, naam bata kar dhoka (opportunity for controversy, duped by name)?”, “Dharm chipakar dhanda, sahi ya ganda (Doing business by hiding religion, right or wrong)?”

After the tireless rambling, Chopra finally made his point: “If a Muslim runs a shop in the name of a Hindu deity, does his business do well? So it doesn’t matter if someone’s purity is violated by this fraud...All this protest, all this fight is to maintain some fake identity by hiding their religion and doing fraud.”

He said in Hindi: “Kya koi Muslim jab Hindu devi devataon ke naam se dukaan chalata hain toh uska business acha ho jata hain? Fir isse kisi ki shudhta dhoke se bhang kyun na hoti ho, koi fark nahi padta…Ye sara virodh, ye sari ladai kuch farzi pehchan banaye rakhne ke liye hain, matlab dharam chupa kar dhoka dene ke liye hain.”  

The anchor then took a host of Islamic names – Shoaib, Mohsin, Waseem, Pervez – to ask why they wanted to run eateries with “names of Hindu deities” , and subsequently made a parallel with halal meat to bolster his stance.

He said, “Sirf pehchan batane par aisa jhatka. Halal par nahi hota aisa kuch. Halal bahot zaruri hain (Such a shock for just revealing the identity. Nothing like this happens on Halal. Halal is very important).” 

This top news on primetime was brought to you by sponsors including Mahakosh, Patanjali, and Vectus.  

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