Reporter forced to eat human brain with cannibal tribe while wearing crown made out of teeth

Back in 2017, author and religious scholar Reza Aslan hosted the series Believers on CNN. The purpose of the series was to highlight some of the more obscure religions in the world. One episode, however, came under a lot of scrutiny for its featuring of a very niche cannibalistic hindu sect. The episode shows him supposedly sharing a meal of human brain with the cannibal tribe and wearing a necklace made of real human teeth.

CNN Series Shows Reporter Eating Human Brain With Cannibal Tribe

Hinduism is the third-largest religion in the world, with approximately one billion followers. Like all religions, there are different sects of Hinduism within the greater religion itself. One of those sects is called the Aghori Nomads. The Aghori Nomads are a very small, fringe, cannibal tribe that does not represent the beliefs and practices of the greater Hindu religion. In one episode of Believers, however, Aslan decided to focus on this small sect and go visit them to see what they’re all about. (1)

In this episode, Aslan finds the cannibal tribe outside of the Hindu Holy City Varanasi. The tribe members then cover his face with what is alleged to be cremated human remains. They then have him drink alcohol out of a human skull. They put a necklace made of human teeth around his neck and give him what the show claims to be a cooked piece of human brain. At one point during the episode, one of the members threatens to cut off Aslan’s head because of how much he was talking. Near the end of the episode, you can see an Aghori holy man throwing what is said to be his own excrement at the cameramen as Aslan and the crew run away. (2)

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Hindus Were Enraged

After the show aired, many Indian and Hindu groups began speaking out against it. They said that the episode sensationalized a very small, fringe group from the Hindu religion. They called the episode “hinduphobic” and feared for US-based Indians and Indian Americans’ safety. Already in the weeks before the episode aired, there had been a string of hate crimes against Indians in the United States, and they worried that this would only fuel more of the attacks.

In the episode, Aslan does state that the Aghori are a fringe group amongst the billion other people who practice Hinduism in the world. He also mentioned that not all Aghori practice cannibalism, and that the cannibal aghori tribe wasn’t just a fringe group, but a fringe group of a fringe group. Aslan even interviewed some non-cannibal Aghori in the episode. Still, however, many Hindus were offended by the show and its large focus on such a tiny, essentially insignificant percentage of those who practice the Hindu faith.

“With multiple reports of hate-fueled attacks against people of Indian origin from across the US, the show characterizes Hinduism as cannibalistic, which is a bizarre way of looking at the third largest religion in the world,” the US-India Political Action Committee said in a statement. “In a charged environment, a show like this can create a perception about Indian Americans which could make them more vulnerable to further attacks.”

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Perpetuating Misunderstanding and Fear

Aslan’s critics say that, rather than showing what Hinduism actually is and what it stands for, he has instead only set out to show fringe, extremist sects of Hinduism. This does not, they say, depict what Hinduism stands for or how it is generally practiced around the world. On top of that, being shown on a generally trusted and powerful platform such as CNN further increases fear and misunderstanding of the Hindu religion.

Hindus weren’t just upset about the depiction of the cannibal tribe. In the episode, they say that he also repeated false stereotypes that people have of their religion. These included things like caste, karma, and reincarnation. Hindus have been fighting for years against these stereotypes, so when such a prominent news channel puts out a program that misinforms people further, it is very disheartening.

Aslan’s Response

Many people spoke out on social media, primarily Twitter, about the episode. Aslan, however, was quick to defend his journalism. Primarily, he posted on Twitter saying that the episode was not about Hinduism. Rather, he said, the episode was about the Aghori. He continued: “Despite all this, I know that there are still those who are offended by the episode, especially when it comes to its treatment of such issues as caste discrimination, which remains a touchy subject for many Hindus in America.”

Still, many referred to it as “callus” and essentially tone-deaf to the current situation that was the hate-based attacks against Indian-Americans and Indians in America.

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