Hinduism and Hindu community targeted with derogatory remarks by college professor in Dwarka, Gujarat
Dwarka, Gujarat, India 
23 March, 2026
Case Summary
In Dwarka, Gujarat, Hindu religious sentiments were insulted after Prakash Wankar, an Associate Professor of Economics, posted objectionable comments against Hinduism and the Hindu community on social media. The accused, Prakash Wankar, who was an Associate Professor of Economics at the Shardapith College in Dwarka, shared the post via an Instagram story. The post carried the message “Hindu ko laat maro, Hindu koi dharma nahin” (“Kick Hindus, Hinduism is not a religion”) and included edited narrative content claiming that the term ‘Sanatan’ does not appear in the four Vedas and was instead derived from Buddhism. The content spread rapidly, prompting strong reactions from students, local residents, and religious figures who viewed it as derogatory towards Hindu beliefs and identity. The incident led to large-scale protests across Dwarka and surrounding areas such as Mithapur, Suraj Karadi, and the Okhamandal region, with Hindu organisations organising rallies and demonstrations on major roads. Protesters raised slogans and expressed anger over the remarks, asserting that such views were inappropriate for an individual serving in an educational institution where a significant majority of students belonged to the Hindu community. Memorandums were submitted to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate and the college administration, demanding strict legal action, a thorough investigation into the matter, and the removal of the professor from his position. Religious leaders, including Madhav Swaroop Das, criticised the conduct, stating that a teacher harbouring hostility towards any religion undermined the integrity of education and social harmony. Community representatives such as Girdhar Joshi emphasised that the incident had caused unrest and confusion among students and warned that failure to take prompt action would result in the escalation of protests and the matter being pursued at higher administrative and university levels. The organisations collectively demanded the formulation of stricter guidelines to prevent similar incidents in educational institutions and called for measures to ensure a peaceful academic environment. The college administration acknowledged receipt of the complaints and indicated that the matter would be forwarded to the governing trust authorities for further action, while local authorities took cognisance of the situation and initiated preliminary steps towards an inquiry.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case is being 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 sub-category selected is - Subversion of scriptures. Subverting the religious scriptures of Hindus has particularly devastating consequences. Subversion of the scriptures of Hindus is often done to justify or promote hatred, discrimination, or violence against specific individuals or groups of Hindus. Religious scriptures are often nuanced and those who harbour religious animosity towards Hindus often misquote or misrepresent the scripture to legitimise their animosity and hate towards the faith and its adherents. Any such misquoting of scriptures or subversion to justify hate, violence and discrimination against Hindus owing to religious animosity is hate speech and is categorised as such. This case constituted a clear instance of anti-Hindu hate speech, as Prakash Wankar publicly disseminated content that demeaned and denied the religious identity of Hindus. By posting a message declaring that Hindus should be subjected to violence and claiming that Hinduism is not a religion, the act directly targeted the collective identity, beliefs, and dignity of the Hindu community. Such expressions go beyond the bounds of opinion or academic critique and instead amount to dehumanising rhetoric directed at an entire religious group. Hinduism, often referred to as Sanatan Dharma, is deeply embedded in the cultural, spiritual, and personal lives of its adherents. Any derogatory claims that dismiss its legitimacy as a religion or calls for harm against its followers constitute a direct attack on the foundational identity of millions of Hindus. In this case, the language used was not only dismissive but also incited hostility, making it an explicit affront to the religious sentiments of Hindus. The nature of the post demonstrates animosity towards the Hindu faith and its followers. The statement “Hindu ko laat maro, Hindu koi dharma nahin” (“Kick Hindus, Hinduism is not a religion”) constituted a direct and explicit call for violence against Hindus on the basis of their religious identity. By using language that encouraged physical harm while simultaneously denying the legitimacy of Hinduism as a religion, Prakash Wankar framed Hindus as a target group deserving of hostility, aggression and violence. This was not merely offensive speech but an incitement that dehumanised a religious community and legitimised violence against them. Such rhetoric carries serious consequences, as it contributes to the normalisation of hatred against Hindus and leading to real-world acts of violence against them. When statements advocating violence against a particular community are circulated in public domains, they risk emboldening others, fostering an environment where discrimination, harassment, and even physical attacks against members of the Hindu community. Furthermore, the accused also claimed that the term ‘Sanatan’ does not appear in the Vedas and was derived from Buddhism. This further reflected a malicious distortion of established Hindu scriptural understanding. The concept of Sanātana, meaning eternal or timeless, is deeply embedded in the Indic philosophical tradition and finds continuity across Vedic and later Hindu texts. Presenting it as absent from the Vedas and attributing its origin elsewhere misrepresented the historical and theological foundations of Hinduism. This framing amounted to a subversion of scripture, wherein core elements of Hindu belief were inaccurately portrayed in a manner that could mislead audiences and undermine the authenticity of the tradition. Such misrepresentation, when combined with derogatory messaging, reinforced a pattern of targeting Hindu religious identity through both insult and distortion. The case also demonstrated elements of intent and pattern, as the content was not framed as a neutral or scholarly discussion but as a provocative and inflammatory statement designed to insult and demean. The explicit call for violence, combined with the denial of religious identity, indicated a conscious effort to target Hindus as a community rather than engage in legitimate discourse. Taken together, the direct targeting of Hindus, the dehumanising and inflammatory nature of the language, and the potential to incite communal discord establish this case as a religiously motivated hate crime. It reflects hostility not merely towards a set of beliefs but towards the people who identify with those beliefs, thereby meeting the criteria for inclusion in the tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when an event occurred or when the victim's ordeal began. It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case has specified the exact date when the accused shared the post. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media, 24 March 2026.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Others
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
