Hindu shopkeeper forced to chant 'Allahu Akbar', assaulted on refusal by Muslims in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh

Case ID : 30a9a05 | Location : Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 23 July, 2026

Case ID : 30a9a05

Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

23 July, 2026

Hindu shopkeeper forced to chant 'Allahu Akbar', assaulted on refusal by Muslims in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim

Case Summary

A Hindu shopkeeper was assaulted and threatened with death in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, after he refused to chant the Islamic slogan "Allahu Akbar" at the insistence of four Muslim men. According to media reports, the incident occurred on 24 July 2026 at around 3:30 pm at the victim's paan and cigarette shop in the Pilikothi area of Moradabad. As per the victim, Vijay Singh, the four Muslim men entered his shop, purchased cigarettes, and then pressured him to chant the Islamic slogan "Allahu Akbar". When he refused, they assaulted him. During the assault, one of the accused threatened to kill him and stated that he had recently been released from Tihar Jail after serving a seven-year prison sentence. The accused fled after the victim raised an alarm but continued to threaten him as they escaped. Before they fled, Vijay Singh managed to photograph the registration number of their scooter. Following the attack, Vijay Singh approached the Civil Lines Police Station along with members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal and sought action against the accused. A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against the four Muslim accused under Sections 352, 299, 115(2), and 351(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. During the investigation, the police arrested two of the accused, identified as Asif and Wasim, both residents of Harthala under the Civil Lines Police Station limits, while efforts continued to trace the remaining two accused.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The primary category selected in this case is- Attack not resulting in death. The subcategory selected is- Attacked for opposing radicals and trying to save victim. In several cases, Hindus are attacked for opposing religiously motivated crimes being committed against a fellow Hindu or simply for voicing an opinion opposing radical elements, who either have in the past or continue to persecute Hindus. In such cases, the initial attack against the victim, against which the Hindu was trying to defend the victim, would also need to be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime. Since the initial crime itself was religiously motivated and the subsequent crime of attempting to save the victim or speaking against the radical elements ends up inviting a violent attack, it would also be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. This incident qualified as a religiously motivated hate crime because the Hindu victim was specifically targeted through an attempt to force him to chant "Allahu Akbar", an Islamic religious slogan, against his will. The demand was not incidental to the assault but formed the very basis of the confrontation. By compelling a Hindu man to recite a slogan associated with another religion, the accused attempted to impose an expression of Islamic faith upon him despite his own religious identity. When he refused to comply, they assaulted him, demonstrating that his refusal to submit to the religious demand was the immediate trigger for the violence. This established that the victim's Hindu identity lay at the core of the attack. The use of an Islamic religious slogan as an instrument of coercion elevated the incident beyond a routine assault. Every individual has the fundamental right to practise their own religion without being compelled to participate in the religious expressions, slogans, or practices of another faith. In this case, the Hindu victim was subjected to physical violence solely because he refused to utter a slogan that was contrary to his own religious beliefs. The assault thus became a means of punishing and intimidating him for resisting religious coercion rooted in Islamic identity. The victim neither provoked the accused nor became involved in any personal, commercial, or verbal dispute that could have led to the assault. The confrontation arose solely because the accused insisted that he chant the Islamic slogan "Allahu Akbar" despite knowing that he was a Hindu. When he exercised his right to refuse, they assaulted him and threatened to kill him, demonstrating that the violence was a direct consequence of his refusal to submit to religious coercion. The absence of any other motive, coupled with the attempt to compel a Hindu man to recite an Islamic slogan and the subsequent assault and death threats when he resisted, established that the attack was driven by religious hostility rather than any ordinary dispute. These circumstances clearly demonstrated that the victim was targeted because of his Hindu identity, making this a clear case of a religiously motivated hate crime. It is important to state that such acts are carried out by Muslim perpetrators due to indoctrination by Islamic theology, which advocates that all non-Muslims, including Hindus (referred to as kafirs), are inferior and subject to subjugation unless they convert to Islam or live under Islamic rule (dhimmitude). These ideas are not mere abstractions; they manifest in actions where non-Muslims, especially Hindus in India, are seen as targets for religious domination, coercion, or humiliation. This theological framework fosters an "us versus them" mindset, in which any assertion of Hindu identity or religious freedom is seen not only as undesirable but as a threat to Islamic supremacy. As a result, perpetrators who are shaped by such teachings feel justified, even morally obligated, to harass, suppress, or violently attack Hindus, particularly when Hindus assert their religious rights or resist religious coercion. As a result, Muslim perpetrators invoke such doctrines to justify coercive attempts to target non-Muslims, particularly Hindus, portraying submission to Islam as a means of abandoning Kufr (a state of disbelief in Islam or disbelief in Islam). Such acts, therefore, are not isolated but driven by a broader ideological hostility towards Hindus as non-believers and reflect an attempt to impose Islamic dominance. This case was also not a random isolated incident, but a premeditated attack motivated by bias and hatred against Hindus. Therefore, it is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker.