Trolling at 3X speed: People back munching Randhir Jaiswal, give critics a mouthful

Engagement farmers have picked on MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal and NSA Ajit Doval for having snacks at the Brics Summit in New Delhi. By playing Jaiswal's clip at 3X speed, trolls have turned a normal act into social media content. People are defending the Indian officials and calling out the trolls.

India concluded a successful year as the president of Brics, holding the summit in New Delhi over the weekend. However, trolls on social media need more than substance to munch on. They circulated videos of MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval showing them tucking into snacks at the Brics Summit while leaders spoke. As the clips went viral, saner people jumped in to defend the senior officials, and call out the trolls over their distasteful behaviour.

The snacks were placed on the tables for delegates and officials to eat. It is as simple as that. But once the videos surfaced, Jaiswal and Doval were trolled for doing exactly that.

The video of Jaiswal, in particular, was circulated at 3X speed, turning a normal act into something abnormal.

Jaiswal was seen munching snacks from the box on his table and going back for more at an unusual speed. At 3X, a perfectly normal thing can be made to look abnormal, and a routine moment can become content. And when a senior diplomat is in the video, something completely ordinary becomes fodder for outrage.

But there is a larger absurdity here. Jaiswal and Doval are not politicians. They are among the senior officials who defend India's position, represent the country and keep its diplomatic and security machinery running. That they should eat a snack during a long international summit should hardly be remarkable.

Yet, a wave of social media commentary treated it as though it were.

Veteran Anil Talwar took a swipe at Jaiswal, writing that the MEA should "start feeding its bureaucrats before sending them to high-profile international events". He joked that Jaiswal had turned a formal Brics session into his "personal snack break", adding that the real "bilateral engagement" appeared to be between Jaiswal and the snack bowl.

Congress leader Srinivas BV linked Jaiswal's snacking to the vegetarian dinner menu.

"Everyone else came prepared for BRICS. Modi ji came prepared for VEG Menu. MEAIndia [Randhir Jaiswal] ji came prepared with DABBA. Respect," wrote the AICC secretary on X.

It was the sort of joke social media is built for — take an innocuous moment, strip it of context, and turn it into a punchline.

A wave of trolls soon joined in, mocking Jaiswal and Doval over eating snacks and turning the otherwise ordinary moment into a social media talking point.

PEOPLE DEFEND RANDHIR JAISWAL, AJIT DOVAL ON SOCIAL MEDIA

The trolling, however, soon produced a counter-wave. Instead of laughing along, several journalists and commentators pointed out the obvious, that snacks are meant to be eaten.

Former MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said the video spoke poorly of those sharing it.

"Randhir Jaiswal ji is one of the finest spokesperson we have in MEA and those spreading a video to mock him must realise that it speaks poorly of the person sharing it than it being a reflection on the work and capabilities of Randhir ji," Chaturvedi posted on X.

Independent journalist Nayanima Basu said the episode reflected what was wrong with social media today. "Catching people off-guard, mocking them is called fun, gets you views," she wrote, arguing that those trolling Jaiswal would neither reach his position nor be able to do his job. Hiding behind a screen is easy. It's cowardice."

Senior journalist and Managing Editor at India Today, Marya Shakil, said zooming in on Jaiswal eating and turning it into needless outrage was "in poor taste". She said the trolling reduced a routine moment to a spectacle while ignoring the "weeks of effort, preparation, and discipline" behind the work of officials at such summits.

That is perhaps the more important point. Social media increasingly rewards the smallest visual oddity over the larger context.

Snehesh Alex Philip, a journalist with The Print, called it "engagement farming". He noted that the Jaiswal clip had been edited and played at 3X speed to highlight him eating snacks, while officials and leaders had been working round the clock during the summit.

"Boss, snacks are there to be eaten," he wrote.

The BJP came out to back Jaiswal, with National Spokesperson Sanju Verma asking critics to "stop dehumanising" officials who have worked tirelessly to make Brics Delhi Summit a "stellar success".

"Absolutely pathetic to see so many from Opposition sharing videos of MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal munching dry fruits. BRICS India 2026 has been a stellar success and MEA has done a wonderful job, working round the clock. So what if he was snacking? Stop dehumanising our officials," posted Verma on X.

INDIAN OFFICIALS HAVE LONG BEEN TARGETS OF ONLINE TROLLS

There is also nothing particularly new about senior Indian officials becoming targets of this kind of online scrutiny. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, too, has faced trolling too, despite spending years in India's diplomatic machinery.

Vikram Misri and his daughter faced intense online trolling, abuse, doxxing, and personal attacks in May 2025, after he announced a ceasefire between India and Pakistan on May 10, during Operation Sindoor. Misri had been a prominent public face of the government's briefings during the conflict.

The larger question is what exactly social media wants from public officials. Should diplomats remain perfectly still, expressionless and camera-ready every second they are in public? Should eating, laughing, looking tired or taking a break suddenly become evidence of incompetence? Or can senior officials simply be allowed to be human?

For people hungry for content, even eating a snack can be turned into a controversy at 3X speed.

- Ends