Anti-Hindu hate speech: Muslim man makes derogatory social media post mocking ongoing persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh
Mahrajganj, Uttar Pradesh, India 
27 December, 2025
Case Summary
In Thuthibari village, Tola Dharmouli, of Maharajganj, Uttar Pradesh, the religious persecution of Bangladeshi Hindus was mocked, and derogatory remarks were made about it by a Muslim man named Sagir Khan alias Saheb. The accused is a 19-year-old man and the son of Shahbuddin Khan. The Hinduphobia Tracker team tried to contact the Thuthibari police regarding this matter, but the police did not receive the call. According to media reports, the accused shared a video on the social media platform Instagram relating to atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh and made objectionable comments about the Hindu community's sufferings. Angered by the matter, a Hindu individual filed a complaint with the police and demanded action. The police took immediate action and arrested the accused youth. During interrogation, the accused gave his name as Sagir Khan alias Saheb, resident of the village Thuthibari Tola Dharmouli. Considering the comments made on social media were against law and order and social harmony, the police registered a case under relevant sections and charged the accused. In this regard, the Kotwali in charge, Navneet Nagar, stated that given the seriousness of the matter, prompt action had been taken. A case had been registered against the accused, and he had been sent to court. The police appealed to the public to refrain from sharing any inflammatory or objectionable material on social media, otherwise strict legal action would be taken. Notably, a fresh wave of anti-Hindu violence swept across Bangladesh following the death of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi, an anti-India Muslim activist who harboured deep animosity towards Hindus. This escalation built upon the relentless persecution that Hindu victims endured since the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government in August 2024, when Muslim mobs repeatedly attacked Hindu homes, temples, and sacred spaces, subjecting the vulnerable Hindu community to merciless intimidation, arson, and brutal assaults. In the aftermath of Hadi’s death, Hindu families suffered targeted attacks as Muslim mobs selectively torched their homes in multiple localities, forcing terrified residents to flee and leaving countless victims homeless and destitute. This patterned aggression struck Hindu neighbourhoods, properties, and religious symbols with complete impunity, exemplified by the horrific lynching of innocent Hindu man Dipu Chandra Das by a Muslim mob over fabricated blasphemy charges, which laid bare the profound vulnerability of the Hindu minority amidst surging communal hostility. These atrocities underscore the systematic terror inflicted upon the defenceless Hindu minority in Bangladesh, stripping families of their homes, lives, and dignity in a relentless campaign of communal violence. The accused Sagir Khan's mockery of this suffering not only amplified the victimisation of Hindus but also revealed his explicit endorsement of the violence against them.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Hate Speech against Hindus. The subcategory selected is- Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith. Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. The other subcategory selected is- Denial or mocking of genocide/large-scale persecution. Denial or mocking of genocide/large-scale persecution/ethnic cleansing refers to the act of denying or minimizing the fact of the ethnic cleansing and/or genocide and/or religious persecution of Hindus. This often involves denying the scale, mechanisms, religious intent, or even the occurrence of the ethnic cleansing and/or genocide and/or religious persecution of Hindus. Hate speech of this kind involves the dissemination of falsehoods that deny or distort established historical facts or mock the suffering of Hindus by saying that they deserved the persecution, motivated by Hinduphobia. Denying such atrocities is not only about the denial of facts or rewriting/revising history, but it also delegitimises the religiously motivated persecution of Hindus, the religious hate/motivation/animosity that led to the persecution, and dehumanises Hindus as a religious group. Such denial of ethnic cleansing and/or genocide and/or religious persecution of Hindus not only denies the suffering but also paves the way for future/present atrocities and hate speech, inciting prejudice and violence against Hindus. It also provides a justification for violence by delinking religious animosity from religiously motivated crimes committed against Hindus. Since such denial and/or mocking of genocide/ethnic cleansing/atrocities motivated by religious animosity leads to present and future ramifications of creating more hate speech, violence, dehumanisation and delegitimisation, it would be considered hate speech under this category. This case stands as a clear instance of religiously motivated hate speech against Hindus. Sagir Khan, alias Saheb, shared a video on Instagram showing atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh and made objectionable comments mocking their persecution. By mocking and making derogatory remarks on the documented suffering inflicted on Hindus by Muslims, including targeted arson, mob lynchings, temple desecration and intimidation, the accused openly demonstrated his animosity towards the Hindu community and endorsed their victimisation. The persecution of Bangladeshi Hindus intensified after the murder of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi, when Muslim mobs targeted Hindu homes, setting them ablaze across multiple localities, forcing families to flee and leaving many homeless. This followed a pattern of attacks on Hindu neighbourhoods, properties, and religious symbols, including the brutal lynching of Hindu man Dipu Chandra Das over fabricated blasphemy charges, alongside posters calling for Hindu extermination that normalised genocidal rhetoric. Violence had already escalated since Sheikh Hasina's ouster in August 2024, with Hindu homes, temples, and sites repeatedly attacked amid relentless intimidation, arson, and mob assaults. These events exposed the dire plight of Hindus, and Sagir Khan's mockery of their persecution showcased his support for the genocide by Muslim extremists, marking his actions as religiously motivated hate speech that emboldened other anti-Hindu perpetrators and amplified prejudice against Hindus and their sufferings, making it a clear instance of religiously motivated offence. Given that this case meets the parameters of a religiously motivated offence, it is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records the dates of incidents based on when the crime occurs rather than when the media reports it. However, in this particular case, media reports did not state the exact date when the accused made these derogatory comments, so the date when the media published these reports, 28 December 2025, has been selected as the indicative date of the incident. This is recorded for documentation purposes only.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
