'Protecting those in power': Netizens slam ANI for deleting tweet showing rats in UP hospital
New Delhi: News Agency Asian News International (ANI) reportedly removed a video from its official X (formerly Twitter) handle that showed rats roaming freely inside a patient ward of a government hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district, triggering criticism from social media users.
The now-deleted video allegedly showed rats moving around inside the orthopaedic ward of Gonda Medical College.
Fact Checker and Journalist, Mohammed Zubair questioned the ANI Editor Smita Prakash on why the tweet was deleted and a clarification of the Superintendent of the hospital was posted instead.
In a post on ‘X,’ he wrote, “Hello @smitaprakash, Why did your News agency delete the tweet showing Rats roaming around inside a patient ward in Govt hospital in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh? You instead shared a clarification by Superintendent of the hospital.” (SIC)
Hello @smitaprakash, Why did your News agency delete the tweet showing Rats roaming around inside a patient ward in Govt hospital in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh?
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) January 14, 2026
You instead shared a clarification by Superintendent of the hospital pic.twitter.com/9rZWSDt7Yc https://t.co/Bc3SarJJ8H
#WATCH | Gonda | On viral video showing rats roaming in hospital, Dr DN Singh, Superintendent, Autonomous State Medical College & Babu Ishwar Sharan hospital, says, "We have constituted a committee, and on the basis of its report, we will take further action. The existing… pic.twitter.com/2JjP1Krc80
— ANI (@ANI) January 14, 2026
Reacting to the development, a user @makhdoom_irfani wrote, “Journalism should question power, not protect it.”
Journalism should question power, not protect it.
— Makhdoom Irfani (@makhdoom_irfani) January 14, 2026
Many other users echoed similar concerns. Reacting to the post, one user commented, “clarification??? In which universe can rats in a hospital be clarified ..???”
“Today's journalism is shame!,” said another.
Another user drew a comparison with the National Medical Commission’s decision to shut down a medical college in Kashmir over an alleged overwhelming number of Muslim students admitted to medical courses. The user wrote, “The Medical Council will not cancel the licence of this college because not many Muslim students are studying here.”
The Medical council will not cancel the license of this college, because not many Muslim students are studying here.
— Zahur (@Zahur82446025) January 15, 2026
“Deleting evidence and posting a “clarification” doesn’t fix the problem. It only raises questions about credibility and selective journalism,” remarked another.
@ANI deleted the tweet showing Rats roaming around inside a patient ward in Govt hospital in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh.
— Sanjay-সঞ্জয় (@BhaiOfTotla) January 15, 2026
pic.twitter.com/1zWwbK1HC8
What is the issue ?
The controversy began after a video showing rats moving freely inside the orthopaedic ward of Gonda Medical College surfaced on social media.
The video reportedly recorded two days before went viral across social media.
Following the circulation of the video, the district magistrate ordered an inquiry into the incident. According to a PTI report, anti-rodent medicines were sprayed across the wards as an immediate measure.
The principal of the medical college, responding to the incident, stated that food brought into hospital wards by attendants attracts rodents.
He added that medicines had been sprayed in all wards and claimed that rats were no longer visible, while assuring that the administration would not tolerate any negligence related to patient safety. A detailed investigation into the matter is currently underway.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
