Anti-Hindu fake news: Muslim 'journalist' whitewashes Gita recital event sacrilege by Muslim vendor, maliciously vilifies Hindu devotees
India 
8 December, 2025
Case Summary
An anti-Hindu fake news was spread on social media by a Muslim 'journalist' named Mohammad Zubair, co-founder of Alt News. The accused whitewashed the defilement of a Gita Recital (Gita Path) event in Kolkata and the attack on the religious observance of Hindu devotees by a Muslim vendor named Sheikh Riyazul. According to media reports, in Kolkata, West Bengal, on 8th December 2025, a Gita Path event was brazenly defiled by a Muslim vendor, Sheikh Riyazul, who was selling chicken patties at the religious venue during the sacred recitations. When Hindu devotees asked what he was selling, he deliberately lied that it was vegetarian food and deceitfully fed non-vegetarian patties to them. Once the devotees discovered the chicken inside, their outrage over this betrayal and desecration of their faith erupted into heated disputes and physical altercations. Regarding this incident, the accused, Mohammad Zubair, spread false news on social media claiming that during the Gita recital event, a Muslim vendor was beaten by Hindus just for selling chicken patties. However, Zubair maliciously hid the fact that the Hindu victims were deceptively fed non-veg patties by the Muslim accused, who first claimed them to be vegetarian. The Hindu devotees who saw this as a sacrilege to their religious observance thrashed the Muslim accused out of fury. Zubair posted a tweet on his official X handle on 9th December 2025 with a 1.06-minute video showing the Muslim vendor being 'thrashed'. Zubair wrote, "Disturbed by an incident that took place recently at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground. The programme was organised at Brigade Parade Ground by Bageshwar Dham’s Dhirendra Shastri. A poor street vendor selling chicken patties near the venue was physically and mentally assaulted by individuals from the crowd. His only 'offence' was selling Veg and Chicken patties. Despite his willingness to leave the area peacefully, he was not allowed to do so. He was slapped, abused, and his box full of patties was forcibly thrown onto the road by the mob." In another tweet, Zubair said, "Except for a brief digital report by a Bengali daily, the matter received little mainstream attention. But television channels, like Republic Bangla, promoted selective narratives around the event, yet the assault on the poor vendor went unaddressed." However, netizens shared the longer version of the video, which exposed the Muslim vendor deceiving Hindu devotees by feeding them chicken patties while claiming they were vegetarian, thereby debunking Zubair's lies and selective narrative.
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 subversion and prejudice. The tertiary category selected is- Anti-Hindu fake news or downplaying. Hate speech is defined as any speech, gesture, conduct, writing, or display that is prejudicial against a specific individual and/or group of people, which is leading to or may lead to violence, prejudicial action or hate against that individual and/or group. Media plays a specific and overarching reach in perpetuating prejudicial attitudes towards a community owing to unfair, untrue coverage and/or misrepresentation/misinterpretation, selective coverage and/or omission of facts of/pertaining to issues affecting a specific religious group. This type of bias can dehumanise the victim group, making it easier for others to justify harmful actions against them, which aligns with the objectives of hate speech laws aimed at preventing such harm. It is often observed that the media takes a prejudicial stand against the Hindu community driven by their need to shield the aggressor community which happens to be a numeric minority, however, is the one perpetrating violence against Hindus. For example, the media is often quick to contextualise religiously motivated crimes against Hindus, omit or misrepresent facts that point towards religiously motivated hate crimes, justify and/or downplay religiously motivated hate crimes or simply present fake news to stereotype Hindus. Such media bias leads to the denial of persecution and is often used to dehumanise Hindus, leading to justification for violence against them. For example, the media covered several fake allegations of Hindus targeting Muslims and forcing them to chant Jai Shree Ram. Most of these cases were proved false and fabricated after police investigation. These fake news reports were subsequently never retracted or clarified. Such fake news led to the justification of violence and dehumanisation of Hindus based on the argument that since Hindus targeted Muslims and forced them to chant Jai Shree Ram, the dehumanisation of Hindus and violence against them was par for the course and merely a retaliation. Such media bias leads to prejudicial portrayal of Hindus and offers a justification for violence against them and therefore, is considered hate speech under this category. In this case, Mohammad Zubair's tweet constitutes a brazen act of anti-Hindu hate speech. He maliciously twisted a violation of Hindu sanctity into an attack on the devotees themselves. Zubair deliberately omitted the Muslim vendor Sheikh Riyazul's actions: selling chicken patties during the Gita Recital at Kolkata's Brigade Parade Ground, lying that they were vegetarian, and feeding non-vegetarian items to devotees. Zubair portrayed Hindus as aggressors who thrashed a "poor Muslim vendor" solely for selling chicken. This distortion hid the devotees' response to the sacrilege and falsely vilified Hindus as violent, turning victims into villains while protecting the Muslim desecrator. Such fake news demonstrates clear prejudice and incites hatred against the Hindu community, making it a clear example of religiously motivated hate speech. The incident involved a direct assault on Hindu religious observance during the Gita Path event organised by Bageshwar Dham’s Dhirendra Shastri. Sheikh Riyazul sold chicken patties at the venue amidst recitations of the Bhagavad Gita, deceived devotees by claiming the items were vegetarian, and fed them non-vegetarian food. Devotees discovered the chicken and reacted with outrage, leading to disputes and the thrashing of the vendor. However, Zubair's tweet falsely stated the vendor's only offence was selling vegetarian and chicken patties nearby, claimed Hindus assaulted him despite his intent to leave peacefully, and blamed media like Republic Bangla for so-called 'selective coverage' while ignoring the deception of the Muslim vendor. This selective narrative paints a false picture of 'Muslim victimhood', unfairly vilifies Hindus, equates their defence of faith with aggression, and qualifies as anti-Hindu hate speech. Notably, this is not an isolated incident. Hinduphobia Tracker has previously recorded multiple cases where Mohammad Zubair spread false news whitewashing crimes against Hindus and their faith. For instance, in July 2025, Mohammad Zubair deliberately whitewashed insults hurled at the revered Hindu deity Lord Shiva by an Indore-based cartoonist, falsely tweeting that the Madhya Pradesh High Court denied the man anticipatory bail solely for criticising Narendra Modi and the RSS. However, Zubair maliciously concealed the court's explicit condemnation of the cartoonist's demeaning and denigrating portrayal of Lord Shiva, transforming a clear religious affront into a politicised non-issue. In another glaring instance in March 2024, Mohammad Zubair peddled outright lies by claiming Hindu students at Gujarat University in Ahmedabad violently attacked Muslim students merely for offering namaz. The truth painted a starkly different picture: the clash ignited when Hindu students politely asked the warden if the spot suited prayer, only for an Afghan Muslim student to slap a Hindu peer in response, sparking chaos between Hindu and Muslim groups. Zubair obliterated this sequence, instead framing Hindus as anti-Muslim aggressors who allegedly forced Muslims to chant Hindu slogans—a complete fabrication—thus whitewashing the anti-Hindu violence and fanning hatred against Hindus. Given this incident alongside Zubair's pattern of anti-Hindu fake news, it is crystal clear that his actions stem from deep religious animosity and unbridled hatred towards the Hindu community, warranting immediate entry into the Hate Crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
