Attack on Hindu sentiments: Muslim-owned restaurant in Bengaluru posts derogatory image of Lord Krishna during Vishu festival
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India 
18 April, 2026
Case Summary
In Bengaluru, Hindu religious sentiments were hurt after a Muslim-owned restaurant posted a social media poster depicting Lord Krishna eating meat during the Vishu festival, the Malayalam New Year. The restaurant, named "Nadawi Mandi", was owned by a man named Mohammad Jafar. Vishu, the Malayalam New Year, is a deeply significant festival for Hindus in Kerala, centred on rituals like the Vishukkani, which symbolises prosperity, purity and divine blessings for the year ahead. Families prepare the Vishukkani the night before by arranging auspicious items, such as rice, gold ornaments, fruits, flowers, coins, a mirror, and sacred texts, in a darkened room lit by a traditional lamp. The first sight upon waking determines one's fortune for the coming year, emphasising renewal, hope, and spiritual purity through this time-honoured tradition. According to media reports, the Nadawi Mandi Restaurant is located on Maha Yogi Vemana Road, Konappana Agrahara, Electronic City, Bengaluru (560100). The restaurant also has more branches in Kerala and Saudi Arabia. During the Vishu festival, it shared a derogatory poster on its Instagram handle in which Lord Krishna was shown eating meat. Lord Krishna was peeking over a table while holding a piece of cooked meat, with a large platter of biryani rice topped with roasted chicken placed prominently in the foreground. The background showed a restaurant setting with diners seated, while festive design elements and Malayalam text wishing "Happy Vishu" were displayed above. The use of Krishna imagery in direct association with a meat dish formed the central point of contention among Hindu users on social media. This further resulted in social media outrage, after which the restaurant deleted the offensive post and image from its Instagram handle. Hindu users on social media said that the use of Lord Krishna’s imagery in association with meat dishes in such advertisements is a direct insult to Hindu traditions, leading to strong reactions among devotees who viewed it as disrespectful to the sanctity of the festival and its customs. Screenshots of the post continued to circulate on social media even after it was removed from the restaurant’s social media page. Even Hindu organisations reacted strongly against this act of desecration. Sri Srinivasa Santosh Kadthal of Hindu Jagran Vedike expressed strong opposition and demanded an apology from Jafar to the Hindu community. Later, a video of Mohammad Jafar went viral on social media in which he was seen apologising to the entire Hindu community.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category - Attack on Hindu religious representations. Within this, the subcategory selected is - Desecration of Hindu religious symbol. Icons and symbols or a religious representation of a spiritual ideal are widely revered in Hinduism. Iconography is of vital significance in the Hindu milieu. It helps connect people’s spiritual beliefs with the real world. Iconography within the Hindu faith takes several shapes and forms. Murtis are of most significance to Hindus, to which daily rituals, prayers and offerings are done. Besides the murtis, there are several other symbols which have deep significance in the Hindu faith – the Om and Swastika for example. Since these Hindu religious symbols hold paramount importance in Hinduism, any desecration of symbols, icons, murtis, religious representations and manifestations, is driven by animosity towards the faith itself which manifests itself through these murtis, icons and symbols. Therefore, any desecration of these Hindu religious symbols and representations is considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. The other subcategory selected is- Iconoclastic representation of Hindu Gods/Goddesses. An icon is a symbol of someone or something that is revered, or a religious representation of a spiritual ideal. Iconography is of vital significance in the Hindu milieu. It helps connect people’s spiritual beliefs with the real world. Iconography within the Hindu faith takes several shapes and forms. Murtis are of most significance to Hindus, to which daily rituals, prayers and offerings are done. Besides the murtis, there are several other symbols which have deep significance in the Hindu faith – the Om and Swastika for example. Any iconoclastic representation of these symbols, images and murtis is an affront to the religious beliefs and faith of the Hindu community itself since the symbols and icons are deeply religious in nature. In this sub-category of crime, we would record hate crimes and iconoclastic representations, in words, art, or any other form of representations of symbols that hold religious significance for the Hindu community. Since these symbols, icons and murtis are central to the Hindu faith, any iconoclastic representation of these symbols is born out of animosity towards the faith itself, manifesting itself through these symbols and therefore, these representations would be considered religiously motivated hated crimes. This case stands as a clear example of a religiously motivated hate crime as the Nadawi Mandi restaurant posted a derogatory image of Lord Krishna eating meat while wishing Vishu greetings. The post showed Lord Krishna, a central deity in Hinduism, revered for his divine purity as depicted in scriptures, holding cooked meat next to biriyani and roasted chicken, turning a sacred figure into a profane mockery that wounded the faith of Hindu devotees. Vishu, the Malayalam New Year, holds deep spiritual meaning through rituals like Vishukkani, where Hindu families arrange symbols of prosperity, purity, fruits, gold and divine images to seek blessings, making this timed insult a deliberate attack on Hindu traditions and proving its hateful intent. The act of portraying Lord Krishna eating meat amounts to desecration of sacred Hindu symbols since Hindu deities command utmost reverence with temples and homes barring meat, alcohol and all impurities to uphold ritual sanctity. The poster's blend of this impure element, meat, with Krishna during Vishu greetings profaned Hinduism's holiest icons, stripping away the devotion Hindus offer their gods as living faith embodiments. This act stabbed at the spiritual heart of Hindu families, confirming it as a religiously motivated hate crime that defiled and desecrated a sacred figure Hindus revere most. This showcases the perpetrator's deep-seated animosity towards Hinduism and the Hindu community, making this a clear instance of a religiously motivated crime. By depicting Krishna consuming meat, the poster committed iconoclasm against Hindu gods whose forms appear in exact detail across scriptures like the Bhagavad Gita and Puranas as perfect divine beings free from human flaws. Straying from this scriptural purity to link Krishna with impure substances like meat outraged devotees' deepest beliefs, causing emotional pain to Hindu communities who cherish such depictions. This intentional distortion marked the incident as a religiously motivated hate crime crafted to provoke outrage through a beloved deity's degradation. The occurrence right during the Vishu festival reveals the perpetrators' vicious plan to shatter the celebration's holiness, a sacred season when Kerala Hindus unite in time-honoured family rites like preparing Vishukkani arrangements, offering temple prayers at dawn, and sharing festive feasts such as Vishu sadhya that evoke hope, renewal and divine grace for the year ahead. Striking at this joyful peak when families gathered in devotion maximised devastation to Hindu sentiments among those honouring the Malayalam New Year with pure hearts and traditional observances. Such precise timing laid bare a calculated scheme to erode a vital cultural and religious rite central to Hindu identity, establishing this as a classic religiously motivated hate crime that pierced Hindu communal bonds and undermined collective faith. The poster's spread through social media guaranteed exposure to millions of Hindus actively sharing festival warmth online through greetings, family photos and sacred updates, a digital space meant purely for joy and celebration, not an assault on beliefs. This broad public launch on platforms like Instagram exposed the creators' deliberate goal to inflict mass hurt on the Hindu majority by flooding their feeds with sacrilege precisely when festive content dominated. Leveraging social media's vast scale turned private malice into collective trauma across Hindu communities, rendering this a prime example of a religiously motivated hate crime aimed at wounding Hindu devotees widely and amplifying outrage through viral dissemination. Given that this case ticks every hallmark 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 it is reported by the media. In this case, media reports have not stated the exact date when the social media post was made by the accused. Henceforth, the date when it was first reported by the media, that is, 19 April 2026, is selected as the indicative incident date. This date is recorded for documentation purposes only. In this case, since only one perpetrator is clearly identified, that is the restaurant owner, Mohammad Jafar, the perpetrator count has been recorded as "1". This is recorded for documentation purposes only.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
