Hindu faith and its revered deities mocked by Indian politician in Telangana
Telangana, India 
1 December, 2025
Case Summary
In Telangana, Hindu religious sentiments were insulted after Chief Minister Revanth Reddy mocked Hinduism and the Hindu belief in the existence of multiple Hindu deities. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, while speaking at a party meeting, mockingly said that "How many deities are there in Hinduism? How many deities? Three crores? Why? For those who are unmarried, there is god Hanuman. For those who are married twice, there is another god. For those who drink, there is another god. Yellamma, Pochamma, Maisamma. For those who demand chicken, there is a god. And for those who eat dal-rice, there is another god, right? There are all kinds of deities. Each group has its own god" His comments immediately went viral, which triggered strong reactions across the state. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) condemned the remarks as deeply insulting to Hindu beliefs and stated that the Chief Minister and the Congress government harboured an ingrained Hinduphobic mindset. BJP leaders stated that Reddy had humiliated Hindus by ridiculing their faith from a public platform. Leaders from the BRS similarly condemned the comments, stating that mocking Hindu deities had become a trend among those seeking to ingratiate themselves with particular political interests and urged the Chief Minister to withdraw his remarks and apologise for hurting the sentiments of crores of Hindus. It is important to note here that Revanth Reddy also previously insulted Hinduism, where he claimed that anyone seeking something with a photo of a god was a beggar rather than a Hindu.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category in this case is: Hate speech against Hindus. The subcategory under this 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 tracker because Hindu religious sentiments were insulted after Chief Minister Revanth Reddy mocked Hinduism and the existence of multiple Hindu deities. The Chief Minister’s comment was not a harmless joke. It openly made fun of Hindu beliefs by twisting the idea of 33 crore deities into something silly. In Hindu faith, this number is symbolic. It reflects the understanding that the divine shows itself in countless forms and that people can connect with God in different ways. Hindu theology is actually vibrant and layered. It is often described as monotheistic, pantheistic or panentheistic rather than a system with millions of unrelated gods. At its core is the belief in one supreme reality called Brahman, the infinite and formless source of everything. The various gods and goddesses are understood as different expressions or energies of this one truth, much like a single beam of light appearing in different colours. This allows each person to approach the divine in a way that feels meaningful to them, and it encourages seeing the sacred in all life and in nature. The "33 crore deities" expression, therefore, metaphorically points to the countless ways the single divine power manifests in the universe, rather than a literal census of 33 crore gods. By turning this profound idea into a joke about drinkers, people wanting chicken or those married twice, the remark reduced a central part of Hindu philosophy to cheap humour. The Chief Minister suggested that Hindus invent gods for every habit or personal taste, which is a complete distortion of the Hindu faith and tradition. Such framing encourages people to laugh at Hindu worship instead of understanding the spiritual depth behind it. The mockery was even more hurtful when he mentioned deities like Yellamma, Pochamma and Maisamma. These are revered in many rural and working-class communities and represent protection, ancestry and community wellbeing. Speaking about them in a mocking tone insults the people who worship them and dismisses their living faith as something to make fun of. When such remarks come from a Chief Minister, the impact is far greater. It normalises disrespect toward Hindu sacred figures and signals that ridiculing Hindu belief is acceptable in public life. This contributes to a wider atmosphere where Hindu identity is treated as something that can be belittled without consequence. Additionally, considering that the accused previously mocked Hindus and their faith by stating that anyone seeking something with a photo of a deity was a beggar rather than a Hindu, this act clearly ridiculed the devotion Hindus have towards their deities and disrespected the faith entirely. This makes it evident that the current case is not an isolated or casual comment but a clear instance of anti-Hindu hate speech deeply rooted in animosity towards Hinduism. Since the accused's remark mocked the symbolic idea of three crore deities, misrepresented the core of Hindu theology and insulted ordinary devotees, it clearly amounts to denigration of the faith. Hence, this case is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when a crime occurs rather than when it is reported by the media. It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case has specified the exact date when the accused made his anti-Hindu remarks. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media, 2 December 2025.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Others
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
