Minor girl receives death threats for dressing up like Guru Nanak to pay tribute on his Jayanti

Case Summary
A 13-year-old girl faced violent threats, including death threats, for dressing up as Guru Nanak Dev Ji in an attempt to honour him on Guru Nanak Jayanti. She intended to pay tribute, but her gesture angered some Sikh extremists, who began issuing threats against her on social media. The events unfolded on November 14, 2024, during a program held at Sindhi Dharamshala where children dressed as figures like Lord Shiva, Radha, and Krishna. Noticing that no one had represented Guru Nanak, the girl felt it was important to include him. She shared her wish with her father, who sought the approval of the Dharamshala members. They supported her wholeheartedly. The girl dressed as Guru Nanak and, as a mark of respect, was seated on a chair on the stage. Unfortunately, this act was misinterpreted by some Sikhs, who felt it disrespected Guru Nanak. Accusations arose, with some claiming the family had conspired to insult Sikhism. This led to violent threats, including calls for the girl to be beheaded. Among the individuals inciting violence, a man named Viky Thomas stood out, posting threatening videos and targeting both the girl and the Sindhi Hindu community. To defuse tensions, the girl’s family, accompanied by Dharamshala members, visited the local Gurdwara to apologise and demonstrate their respect for Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The President of the Sindhi Panchayat, Ramesh Khatri, also issued a public apology, stating, “The Sindhi community celebrated Guruparv with enthusiasm and took out a Prabhat Ferry 10–12 days ago. During this, a girl expressed her wish to come to the program dressed as Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. In the joy and excitement of the occasion, we granted permission. The girl came dressed as Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji and was made to sit on the stage. This was an oversight. We accept our mistake and apologize to the entire Sikh community.” Despite these efforts, representatives of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) summoned the girl and her family to appear before Akal Takht, the highest temporal authority in Sikhism, to seek further forgiveness.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Hate speech against Hindus. Under this, the first sub-category selected is- Doxxing and harassment of Hindus for religious reasons. Doxxing is the act of making available publicly personal, identifiable information of an individual with the intention of compromising their safety, security and privacy. When doxing is done with religious animosity forming the basis of the intention, it often involves severe consequences like loss of employment, physical harm, physical threat, harassment and/or discrimination for the victim’s religious beliefs. Such doxxing also involves projecting the religious beliefs, affiliations, and rituals of the victim, specifically a Hindu, in a manner that can lead to loss of employment, physical harm, physical threat, harassment and/or discrimination. Apart from doxxing, harassment would also include misrepresentation of an individual's views and religious beliefs that would invite abuse, loss of employment, physical harm, physical threat, harassment and/or discrimination owing to religious hate and animosity. There have been several such instances where religious animosity by one section has led to the doxxing and harassment of Hindus. For example, when a Hindu who worked in the UAE commented on the historical persecution of Hindus at the hands of Muslim invaders, his information was leaked online leading to loss of employment, physical harm, physical threat, harassment and/or discrimination. In another case, a Hindu man’s information was leaked online, leading to violent attacks, after he responded with an emoji to a post about Tipu Sultan, the Islamic tyrant who persecuted Hindus. Such cases are born out of intrinsic religious animosity towards Hindus and therefore, would be considered religiously motivated hate speech. The second sub-category selected here is- Violent threats. Violent threats, explicit, implicit or implied, is the most dangerous form of hate speech since it goes beyond discriminatory and prejudicial language to express the intent of causing harm to an individual or a group of people based on their religious identity and faith. There could be several different kinds of threats that are issued to Hindus based on religious animosity. An explicit threat would mean the direct threat of violence towards an individual Hindu, a group of Hindus or Hindus at large. Physical violence, death threats, threats of destruction of property belonging to Hindus and threats of genocide would mean explicit threats against Hindus for their religious identity. Implicit threats may not be a direct threat but implied through the use of symbols of actions – for example – in the Nupur Sharma case, other than explicit threats, there were also implicit threats when Islamists took to the streets to burn and beat her effigies. It implies that they want to do the same to Nupur Sharma – thereby is considered an implicit threat. Violent threats can be delivered in person, through letters, phone calls, graffiti, or increasingly through social media and other online platforms. It would be important to understand that a threat – explicit or implicit, online or offline – to an individual who happens to be a Hindu does not qualify as a religiously motivated threat. Such a threat, while vile and dangerous, could be owing to non-religious reasons and/or personal animosity. To qualify as a religiously motivated threat, it would need to exhibit an indication that the individual is being targeted for religious reasons and/or owing to his/her religious identity as a Hindu. In this instance, a minor Hindu girl faced harassment for innocently dressing as Guru Nanak Dev Ji at an event celebrating his birth anniversary. She was issued death threats, including beheading threats. Her harmless gesture was misinterpreted by some Sikh extremists as an offence, resulting in severe accusations of Beadbi (sacrilege). By framing her act as sacrilegious, the Sikh radicals not only distorted her intentions but also effectively set the stage for public threats of violence, including the horrific call for her beheading. Sacrilege is the act of breaching or disrespecting something considered sacred or holy. This includes violating religious sites, artefacts, or symbols, as well as participating in conduct that is objectionable to a specific religious community. In recent times, there has been a sudden surge in Beadbi or sacrilege-related incidents accompanied by subsequent murders. Punjab has experienced numerous incidents of violence and sacrilege events in recent years. Last year, protests erupted after a man allegedly attacked two ‘granthis’ (Sikh priests) and desecrated the ‘Guru Granth Sahib’ at a gurudwara in Morinda. The accused, Jasvir Singh, had been apprehended by the Punjab Police. In a video of the event that circulated on social media, Jasvir was seen entering the sanctum sanctorum of medieval Gurudwara Kotwali Sahib Kotwali after crossing the railing and then hitting two ‘granthis’ reciting Gurbani, before throwing the holy book on the ground. Jasvir was later overpowered and beaten by worshippers at the temple. He was then turned over to the police. In another incident reported in November 2023, a Punjab home guards constable was killed and five policemen were injured in a clash with Nihang Sikhs in Kapurthala’s Sultanpur Lodhi. The deceased constable, Jaspal Singh, was posted at Sultanpur Lodhi police station. The incident happened as two of the Nihang groups had been at loggerheads for the past days over the control of the Gurudwara Akal Bunga situated opposite to main Gurudwara Ber Sahib. The Nihangs, who were heavily armed, had locked the Gurudwara from the inside. The police had barricaded the whole area and initiated talks with the Nihang group to vacate the possession. However, clashes erupted and the police home guard constable was killed. Acts of violence committed by Sikh extremists in the name of Beadbi can be viewed as manifestations of intolerance that extend beyond mere defence of religious honour. This tactic is often employed as an expression of extremism, frequently targeting Hindus, whom they perceive as inferior. The underlying hatred and animosity drive these fabricated accusations, serving as a means to subjugate and victimise individuals. As a result, this case is classified as a religiously motivated hate crime and has been documented accordingly.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 1
- Unknown 0
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0

Case Status
Unknown

Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Sikh Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown