Hindu faith targeted by Muslim man through objectionable Instagram posts and religious insults
Shajapur, Madhya Pradesh, India 
8 September, 2026
Case Summary
In Shajapur, the Hindu faith was targeted with objectionable content posted on Instagram by a Muslim man in response to a religious post concerning Tilvandheshwar Mahadev. The content was directed against Hinduism and offended Hindu religious sentiments. The post, in the name of Tilvandheshwar Mahadev, called on members of the Hindu community to unite for a religious programme. Following the post, objectionable material against the Hindu religion was posted from the Instagram IDs “X-malik” and “Armaan King”. On Wednesday night, 9 September 2026, members of the Sakal Hindu Samaj reached Kotwali Police Station in Shajapur and submitted a complaint about the objectionable content. Dinesh Sharma, 49, a resident of New Road, submitted the written application with Jugal Patidar, Jagat Thakur and other community members. The Hindu community demanded action against those operating the two Instagram accounts under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act, and sought their early arrest. Based on the complaint, police registered a case under Section 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and began an investigation. Police also started efforts to establish the identities of the persons operating the “X-malik” and “Armaan King” accounts and ascertain their whereabouts.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category selected in this case is: 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 use 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 these terms 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 that 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 Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to be used 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 from 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 Hinduphobia Tracker because the Muslim man used social media to post objectionable and inflammatory content targeting the Hindu faith and hurting Hindu religious sentiments. Firstly, the objectionable content was directed against Hinduism itself, making the Hindu faith the specific religious target of the material. It was wrong against Hinduism because the content had demeaned and insulted the religious beliefs, identity and sentiments of Hindus, rather than merely expressing disagreement with an ordinary social or political matter. The material had attacked a faith that Hindus followed and revered, thereby treating Hindu religious belief and expression with contempt. Its religious character was further evident from the fact that the Hindu community had specifically identified the content as offensive to their religion and had approached the police seeking action. The conduct had therefore amounted to a direct affront to the dignity of the Hindu faith and to the religious sentiments of its devotees. Secondly, the objectionable content had appeared in response to a post concerning Tilvandheshwar Mahadev, linking the offence directly to a Hindu deity and an expression of Hindu religious observance. The original post had called upon Hindus to unite for a religious programme connected with Tilvandheshwar Mahadev. The subsequent response from the Instagram accounts “X-malik” and “Armaan King” had therefore taken a specifically Hindu religious expression as the context for posting material against Hinduism. This was significant against Hinduism because Mahadev holds a sacred and revered place in Hindu faith. Directing derogatory or objectionable material at Hinduism in response to a message invoking Mahadev amounts to an insult to what Hindus regard as sacred. It had demeaned a Hindu religious expression and turned a call for Hindu devotees to participate in a religious programme into an occasion for attacking their faith. The offence had therefore extended beyond ordinary disagreement: it had involved the disparagement of their deity, their religious observance and the faith expressed through that observance. Altogether, the incident had involved the use of social media to direct objectionable material against Hinduism in a context explicitly connected with Tilvandheshwar Mahadev and Hindu religious observance. The deliberate targeting of Hindu religious expression and sentiments underscores the deep-rooted hatred the accused harboured towards Hinduism. Given that the fundamental motivation behind this incident is contempt for the Hindu religion, this instance has been added to the tracker under the following category. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when an event occurred or when the victim's ordeal began. The media source covering this case has not specified the exact date the objectionable social media posts were made. However, the Hindu community submitted its complaint at Kotwali Police Station on Wednesday night, 9 September 2026. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we recorded the date as 9 September 2026, based on when the Hindu community formally reported the incident to the police.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
