Hindu sentiments outraged after derogatory and vulgar remarks against Hindu deities surfaced on social media
Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India 
24 May, 2026
Case Summary
In the Belkharnath Dham area of Pratapgarh district, Uttar Pradesh, Hindu sentiments were outraged after derogatory and vulgar remarks against Hindu deities surfaced on social media. According to reports, Anil Kumar Mishra, a resident of Gajaria village, submitted a written complaint to Patti Kotwali, stating that offensive comments about Hindu deities, particularly Goddess Parvati, had been posted on a Facebook account. He stated that the posts deeply hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu community and caused widespread resentment in the area. The complainant stated that abusive language was repeatedly being used against Hindu gods and goddesses on social media, creating tension and spreading animosity in society. He warned that failure to take timely action could disturb social harmony and worsen the atmosphere in the locality. The complaint sought identification of the accused, registration of a case under relevant provisions of the IT Act and other applicable laws, and strict legal action against the individual responsible. Patti Kotwal Anandpal Singh stated that the matter had been taken seriously and that police had initiated an investigation into the social media posts, adding that appropriate legal action.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case is 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 This case has been added to the hate crime database because objectionable and vulgar remarks targeting Hindu deities, particularly Goddess Parvati, were circulated through a public social media account with the apparent intention of insulting and provoking the Hindu community. Hindu deities occupy the most sacred position within Hindu religious life and are worshipped not as symbolic figures but as divine manifestations central to the faith, identity, and devotional practices of millions of Hindus. The specific targeting of Goddess Parvati further intensified the religious gravity of the incident. Goddess Parvati is one of the most widely worshipped deities in Hinduism and is revered as the divine consort of Lord Shiva and a manifestation of feminine energy (Shakti), motherhood, devotion, and protection. Insulting such a deeply venerated goddess was not a casual or isolated act of irreverence. It represented a deliberate attempt to demean sacred Hindu beliefs and wound the religious sentiments of devotees attached to her worship. Remarks of this nature carry profound emotional and psychological impact within the Hindu community because they attack figures regarded as holy, divine, and spiritually inseparable from the faith itself. Abusive and vulgar comments directed at Hindu gods and goddesses, therefore constitute far more than offensive speech. They amount to a direct attack on the religious identity and spiritual sentiments of Hindu devotees who revere these deities with deep devotion and respect. The repeated use of abusive language against Hindu deities, as mentioned in the complaint, demonstrated a sustained pattern of hostility rather than a momentary lapse in judgement. The accused did not confine the conduct to private conversation or isolated expression. Instead, the objectionable content was disseminated through social media, a public platform designed for rapid circulation and mass visibility. By choosing such a medium, the perpetrator ensured that the offensive content would reach a wide audience, thereby magnifying the harm caused to Hindu religious sentiments and increasing the likelihood of communal resentment and social tension. The use of digital platforms to publicly mock or abuse Hindu deities forms part of a broader pattern of online anti-Hindu hostility in which sacred Hindu symbols, beliefs, and objects of worship are deliberately targeted for provocation, ridicule, and humiliation. Such acts normalise contempt towards Hindu religious identity and contribute to the creation of a hostile environment for practising Hindus in online spaces. The deliberate publication of vulgar remarks against Hindu deities reflected clear animosity towards Hindu beliefs and amounted to religiously motivated hate speech intended to offend and provoke the Hindu community. For these reasons, the incident was categorised under the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia 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 derogatory statements surfaced on social media. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media, 25 May 2026.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Unknown
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
