Clipped Video of Uddhav Thackeray Shared to Claim That He 'Admitted Eating' Beef

This video has been clipped, the original video shows Thackeray referring to Kiren Rijiju's old remark.

Fact-check: A clipped video of Uddhav Thackeray is going viral on social media with a false context about him consuming beef.

(Photo: The Quint)

A video of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray purportedly saying that he consumes beef is going viral on social media.

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

What's the truth?: This video has been clipped. The original video shows Thackeray referring to a 2015 remark made by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kiren Rijiju about eating beef.

How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on Google and this led us to the original video shared by Shiv Sena (UBT) on their YouTube channel.

• This was live streamed on 12 October and the title stated that it shows Thackeray delivering a speech at a Dussehra event in Dadar, Mumbai.

• At the 2:00:52 timestamp, Thackeray refers to Rijiju's statement on eating beef made in 2015. This is also the part clipped out and used in the viral video.

• Nowhere in the speech does Thackeray mention that he eats beef, as claimed.

• Thackeray also talks about the incident of a 19-year-old boy named Aryan Mishra in Faridabad, Haryana, who was reportedly shot dead on 23 August 2024 after he was suspected of carrying beef in his car.

He further says, "If you killed Aryan Mishra on the allegation that he was smuggling beef, then what Kiren Rijiju said, 'I (Rijiju) eat beef, do whatever you want to do', what do you do about that? I'm not saying shoot him but why this hypocrisy? You're killing young children and shooting them, and those who eat beef, they are saying do what you want and Modi ji you sit with them in your cabinet. I don't accept this kind of Hindutva."

Old statement by Rijiju: We found a report shared by Hindustan Times on 27 May 2015 which states that Rijiju questioned remarks made against consuming beef and said, “I eat beef, I’m from Arunachal Pradesh, can somebody stop me? So let us not be touchy about somebody’s practices.”

Rijiju made this remark in 2015.

(Source: HT/Screenshot)

Conclusion: A clipped video of Uddhav Thackeray is going viral on social media with a false context about him consuming beef.

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