A video showing a group of people wearing saffron scarves, holding saffron flags, and protesting in front of a shop is being widely shared across social media platforms with the claim that a Muslim man owns the ‘Ram Kachori ’ shop within the premises of a Hindu temple in Yamuna Bazar, Delhi (here, here, here, & here). Few other posts also claim that this shop is owned by Niaz Khan, and that he ordered mutton korma into the temple complex. In this article, we fact-check the claims made in the posts.
Claim: A Muslim man owns the ‘Ram Kachori’ shop located within the premises of a Hindu temple in Yamuna Bazar, Delhi.
Fact: According to reports, the owner of the ‘Ram Kachori’ shop located near the Marghat Hanuman Temple in Yamuna Bazar, Delhi, is Hindu. The viral video shows one of the protests that took place in front of the ‘Ram Kachori’ shop after the shopkeeper’s son, Abhishek Sharma, ordered mutton to be delivered to the shop, which is within the temple premises, in March 2023. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To check the veracity of the viral claim, we conducted a relevant keyword search. This search led us to several news reports published in March 2023 (here, here, here, & here). According to these reports, the ‘Ram Kachori’ shop is located within the Hanuman Mandir premises in Yamuna Bazar, Kashmere Gate, Delhi, and the owner of this shop is Hindu. The reports further state that the shopkeeper’s son, Abhishek Sharma, ordered mutton korma from Swiggy on 01 March 2023. The Swiggy delivery partner, Sachin Panchal, refused to deliver the mutton korma order as the delivery address was within the premises of Marghat Hanuman Mandir at Kashmere Gate, where offerings, sweets, and kachoris for Lord Hanuman are prepared each day. Sachin Panchal also made a video of the entire incident and shared an audio recording of his conversation with Abhishek, who had ordered the mutton (here, here).
Reports further stated that, upon learning about this incident, several Hindu organizations gathered at the location and protested against the shop for ordering non-vegetarian food into the temple premises. Following this, heavy CRPF and Delhi Police personnel were deployed near the Ram Kachori shop, adjacent to the ancient Hanuman temple. The Swiggy delivery partner, Sachin Panchal, who refused to deliver the mutton to the temple premises, was felicitated by the temple board of Marghat Hanuman Mandir for upholding the religious sanctity of the holy shrine. From all this information, it is clear that the owner of the ‘Ram Kachori’ shop located within the premises of Marghat Hanuman Temple in Yamuna Bazar, Delhi, is Hindu. The viral video shows one of the protests that occurred after the shopkeeper’s son ordered mutton into the temple premises.
We also contacted the ‘Ram Kachori’ shop located in Yamuna Bazar, Delhi. Speaking to Factly, Abhishek Sharma refuted the claim that the shop is owned by a Muslim and confirmed that his father, Pawan Sharma, is the owner of the shop.
To sum up, the owner of the ‘Ram Kachori’ shop, located near Marghat Hanuman Mandir in Delhi’s Yamuna Bazar, is Hindu.
