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Haldiram employee holds firm as reporter heckles her over ‘Urdu’ text on product

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In the video, the Sudarshan TV reporter can be seen heckling the employee even as the police watched.

A video of a confrontation between a journalist and a Haldiram employee over ‘Urdu’ text on one of the company’s packaging is going viral on social media. In the video, the Sudarshan TV reporter can be seen repeatedly heckling the employee to explain what the “Urdu” text on the packaging means. In response, the employee can be seen trying to keep calm and telling her colleagues that there was no need to explain anything to the reporter. The journalist is heard repeatedly asking the employee what is written on the package in “Urdu”, when in fact the writing was in Arabic.

The snack in question is called “Falahari Mixture” and is said to be one of the brand’s most popular fasting mixes. In the video, the text on the front of the packet is in English, while on the back it is in Arabic. The packaging also displays the green vegetarian symbol. A crowd of people and police can also be seen in witness video of the incident.

In the video, the reporter appears to be aggressively suggesting that Haldiram was hiding something, simply because the package description was also printed in Arabic. The employee is seen standing and saying, “Haldiram’s won’t entertain those kinds of tantrums,” adding that the package in question is not a health hazard. She is also seen politely telling the reporter to leave.

At one point, the reporter insinuates whether “animal oil” or “beef oil” is used in the making of the product. To this, the employee points out that Indians from three communities frequent the shop, those who know English, Hindi and Urdu. She points out that the same description is simply written in three languages.

Many on Twitter called out the reporter for asking the kinds of questions she asked and praised the employee for holding her ground.

Some Twitter users also pointed out that the ingredients listed on the back of the pack were in Arabic and not “Urdu” as most Haldiram packs are exported to Gulf countries. Some even used Google Translate on the text, which simply listed the ingredients used and said the product was made in India.

This comes amid a recent halal controversy with many right-wing groups in Karnataka demanding a ban on halal products in the state. Several sangh-affiliated organizations and others have launched a concerted campaign to boycott the purchase of meat from Muslim traders in the state. Groups such as Hindus Jagruthi Samithi, Sri Rama Sene, Bajrang Dal and others have called for the removal of halal certification from store signs selling meat and advised Hindus to buy meat cut according to their traditional method called “Jhatka”.

Read: Amid row over halal meat, BBMP told to stun animals before slaughter

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