Case Summary

In Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh, a social media handle made derogatory remarks against Goddess Durga and a Durga Puja pandal during the Navratri festival. The incident came to light after screenshots of Instagram stories posted by a user named Khushi Patel went viral on X. The screenshots were shared by the social media handle 'Rashtriya Bajrang Dal Purvanchal' and showed derogatory remarks against Goddess Durga and a Durga pandal. In one of the stories, the Instagram user posted an image of a Durga pandal and referred to Goddess Durga as a “prostitute of Civil Lines”. The screenshots circulated widely on X, triggering outrage among Hindus over the insulting remarks directed at the Hindu deity during the sacred festival of Navratri. Following the incident, Rashtriya Bajrang Dal Purvanchal tagged the Pratapgarh Police on X and sought action against the perpetrator. In response, the Pratapgarh Police stated that the matter fell under the jurisdiction of Patti Police Station and confirmed that the Patti Police had registered a complaint regarding the incident. Notably, the Hinduphobia Tracker team subsequently contacted the Patti Police, who confirmed that the incident had occurred and that the social media account named Khushi Patel had made derogatory remarks against Goddess Durga and a Durga pandal. However, the police stated that they were verifying the authenticity of the account to determine whether it was genuine or a catfish account. The account's URL had been sent for verification, and a report regarding the incident had been forwarded to the Cyber Cell. The police further confirmed that a case had been registered for hurting religious sentiments and under the Information Technology Act.

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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. This case is a clear example of religiously driven hate speech, as the perpetrator made derogatory remarks against Goddess Durga during the sacred festival of Navratri. The nature of the remarks, combined with their timing, demonstrated religious hostility directed at a revered Hindu deity during a period of immense religious significance for the Hindu community. Goddess Durga occupies a central position in Hinduism and is revered as the embodiment of divine feminine power, strength, protection and the triumph of good over evil. Millions of Hindus worship her with deep devotion, particularly during Navratri, a festival dedicated to her various manifestations and the celebration of her victory over evil. Durga Puja is one of the most significant occasions for devotees, who establish elaborately decorated pandals housing the idol of the goddess, conduct religious rituals, offer prayers and gather to celebrate their faith. These pandals serve as sacred spaces of worship and community devotion, making the desecration of the goddess's religious dignity through derogatory remarks particularly offensive to Hindu religious sentiments. The perpetrator's decision to post an image of a Durga Puja pandal while referring to Goddess Durga as a “prostitute of Civil Lines” constituted a direct and degrading attack on a deity revered by millions of Hindus. By associating the sacred goddess with an explicitly derogatory sexual slur, the perpetrator denigrated a central figure of Hindu worship and displayed contempt for the religious beliefs and sentiments of the Hindu community. Such language went beyond ordinary criticism or disagreement, as it targeted the religious dignity of a revered Hindu deity through an expression designed to demean and insult. The nature of the remarks reflected religious hostility towards Hinduism and amounted to a clear instance of religiously driven hate speech. The fact that the derogatory remarks were published on social media further amplified the nature of the offence, as the content was placed in a public-facing digital space where it could circulate beyond a private interaction. By posting the insulting content online, the perpetrator exposed a wider audience to the denigration of Goddess Durga, increasing its potential to offend Hindu devotees and hurt their religious sentiments. The public dissemination of such remarks made the hostility more far-reaching, turning the insult into a form of religious denigration directed at a broader community rather than a private expression. The timing of the incident further underscored its religiously hostile nature, as the remarks were made during Navratri, when devotees were celebrating and worshipping Goddess Durga. Targeting the deity with a degrading slur during this sacred period demonstrated particular contempt for Hindu religious sentiments at a time of heightened devotion. In this case, although the perpetrator’s real identity remained unverified at the time of writing, as the police investigation into the authenticity of the social media account was still underway, the derogatory remarks demonstrated hostility towards Hinduism and a blatant disregard for Hindu religious sentiments. Therefore, this case is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: At the time of writing this report, the perpetrator’s identity had not been verified by the police and remained unknown. Therefore, the Hinduphobia Tracker has recorded the perpetrator’s identity as ‘Unknown’ for documentation purposes. The Hinduphobia Tracker records incident dates based on when a crime occurs, rather than when it is reported by the media, or when it goes viral on social media. However, in this case, the exact date on which the perpetrator made the derogatory remarks is unknown, and media reports have not specified the date of the incident. Therefore, 11 October 2026, the date on which the incident first went viral on social media, has been selected as the indicative incident date for documentation purposes only.