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The video was also shared with similar claims elsewhere on X and Facebook.
These messages emerged days after police in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district ordered on July 17, 2024, that food stalls along the Kanwar Yatra pilgrimage address publicly display the names of their owners and members of their (archived link).
Police said the order was issued to “avoid confusion” among Hindu worshipers who will have to maintain strict vegetarian nutrition during the pilgrimage, according to a report in the Indian newspaper The Hindustan Times (archived link).
The order was later extended to the rest of the state and neighboring Uttarakhand before India’s highest court halted its application, deeming it demanding legal situations (archived link).
The order has been criticized by opposition politicians who have said it targets Muslim-owned businesses. Some allies of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which controls Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, have also criticised it.
But there are no official reports that Rana, himself a BJP member, has gone public about the case until August 5, 2024.
An opposite symbol search on Google keyframes of the video revealed that it was uploaded to Rana’s Instagram account on July 11, 2024, a week before the police warrant was issued (archive link).
Below is a comparative screenshot of the video in one of the posts (left) and the video posted on Rana’s Instagram (right):
Anil Rana, a member of the former fighter’s control team, said the claim that the video showed Rana protesting the order was false.
The video was filmed in the state of Himachal Pradesh, he told AFP.
“The video is old and was posted on Instagram on July 11, while the [Uttar Pradesh] government issued the order on July 17,” he said.