Key Points:
A Kova (Khoya) Bun seller in Andhra Pradesh was harassed by a group of YouTubers who claimed that he was engaged in ‘Food Jihad’ during the Medaram Jatara festival on January 28, 2026.
They aggressively questioned him about the quality and safety of the buns and forced him to consume one to prove it was safe and edible.
The incident enraged many people, with several influencers and prominent leaders decrying it and showing their support for Shavali. Nara Lokesh said such divisive communal behaviour has no place in Telugu society, while Asaduddin Owaisi urged immediate and stringent action, calling it a deliberate attempt to disrupt communal harmony.
A Kova (Khoya) Bun seller in Andhra Pradesh was harassed by a group of YouTubers who claimed that he was engaged in ‘Food Jihad’. Shaikh Shavali was selling kova buns on his street cart during the Medaram Jatara festival in Telangana’s Mulungu district on January 28, 2026, when two to three people started aggressively questioning him about the quality of the buns. Kova buns are a popular snack in South India, and are made of milk, sugar and khoya.
Medaram Jatara is a major cultural and spiritual festival celebrated once every two years in Medaram village of district Mulugu, Telangana. It was held from January 28, 2026, to January 31, 2026, this year. Shaikh Shavali is a native of Velgode in Andhra Pradesh, and he had arrived in Mulugu on January 25, 2026, to sell the buns.
Following the ordeal, Shaikh Shavali said that he was threatened for his life. The YouTubers who harassed him run a channel named Tejaswi News. They approached Shavali and started asking about the quality and safety of the buns. They asked him why the manufacturing and expiry date was not available on the buns, and demanded FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) certificate from him. Asking him to produce his Aadhar Card, they also forced him to consume a bun, to prove if it was safe and edible.
Addressing mediapersons, Shavali said that his family had been selling the buns for decades, and he himself was selling it for 10-12 years. He said that he had never anticipated such a behaviour in the past, and was taken aback by it. Shavali mentioned that he feared for his life, upon being surrounded by several people and being inappropriately interrogated.
The video, now viral on several social media platforms, shows Shavali scared and consuming a bun. Shavali later informed that no one before had complained about the quality of the buns, and people even appreciated its taste. He also added that his mother makes kova at home, and procure the buns from bakeries. Speaking about the quality of the bun, he said that the kova buns were stored in proper conditions, the kova was not adulterated, and that he and his family also consumed it, and nobody ever got sick.
Shavali’s family possesses a Form C certificate from FSSAI, in the name of M/s Quality Sweets & Kova Bun. The proprietor is Shaikh Shavali’s father, M Mahmood, and the certificate allows them to produce and operate food legally in India. However, Shavali said that despite having the aforementioned certificate, he was unable to produce it before the YouTubers because he was so scared of the whole ordeal, he could not process it. He also said that he was wrongly accused of selling adulterated or expired buns, and added that the YouTubers did it only for likes and subscribers for their channel.
The incident has enraged many people, with several influencers and prominent leaders decrying the incident, and showing their support for Shavali. Nara Lokesh, Minister of Human Resources Development of Andhra Pradesh, and son of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, said that he was concerned by the incident and that such divisive communal behaviour has no place in Telugu society.
In a post on X (February 1, 2026), Nara Lokesh said: “Dear Brother Vali, I am deeply sorry that you had to endure this. Such divisive and communal behavior has no place in our Telugu society, which has always stood for harmony, mutual respect, and brotherhood. I will meet you soon and look forward to tasting your famous Khoya bun!”
The Vijayawada-based Minority Rights Protection Forum, led by M Farooq Shubli, who also serves as chairman of the AP Urdu Academy, has extended financial assistance of Rs 50,000 to Shavali to offset his loss of earnings until he feels secure enough to resume work, while Jana Sena Party MLC (Member or Legislative Council) Nagendra Babu contributed an additional Rs 25,000 to support Shavali and his family.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi also condemned the incident on February 14, 2026. Speaking at an event organised by AIMIM at Darussalam, he urged immediate and stringent action from the police against those responsible. He also mentioned that incidents like these were a deliberate attempt to disrupt the communal harmony of the country, and portray Muslims as enemies of the state.
Owaisi also advocated for an inclusive India, which the nation’s founding fathers had envisioned, promoting unity in diversity. On January 26, 2026, a group of Bajrang Dal members harassed an old Muslim man in Uttarakhand’s Kotdwar, and Deepak Kumar, a Hindu man had to intervene. In 2025, ahead of Christmas, several right wing outfits across India attacked several Christmas festivities.
While several incidents of harassment continue to surface, they must serve as reminders of the urgent need to strengthen communal trust rather than deepen suspicion. India’s enduring Ganga-Jamuni heritage reflects centuries of shared traditions, livelihoods, and coexistence across faiths, and it is this spirit of mutual respect as embodied in the Constitution that reflects the unity in diversity of India.
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