Case Summary

In the Rateda Kala village in Amla of Betul district, Madhya Pradesh, Hindu religious sentiments were insulted after a deeply objectionable and inflammatory comment was made against the Hindu community by a Muslim youth named Haran Khan. According to reports, the accused made a post on Instagram which insulted the Hindu religion, national protectors, and revered ancestors, which was widely condemned for spreading religious animosity and social discord. The post read, “बाप दादा मर गए मुगलों की चड्ढी धोते धोते… और बेटा कहता है हम इस्लाम खत्म कर देंगे .. Islam zinda baad ...Allah hu akbar" (The forefathers died washing the Mughals’ underwear, and now the son says we will end Islam...! Islam lives forever Allah is great). The statement was not only an insult to Hindu ancestors and religious sentiments but also an expression of triumphalism that glorified Islam while deriding Hindu identity and cultural heritage. On 31 October 2025, members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal protested against the post, gathering at the Amla police station to demand strict action against the accused. Hindu activists also filed a written complaint asserting that the post insulted Hinduism, denigrated the protectors of the nation, and incited religious discord. Based on the complaint, the police registered an FIR against the accused. As of the date of writing this report, the police have launched an investigation into whether the youth acted independently or was influenced by external ideological groups seeking to incite communal tensions. Haran’s father, Aslam Khan, acknowledged his son’s actions and apologised to the Hindu community. He claimed that his son, who had failed his Class 10 exams and was working as a truck conductor, was still young and not involved in any ideological or political activity. He further claimed, “If he did something by mistake, we are sorry.” The police confirmed that efforts were underway to apprehend the accused for further inquiry into the origins and intent of the post.

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Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Hate speech against Hindus. Within it, the sub-category 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 constitutes a clear instance of anti-Hindu hate speech. The Muslim accused posted obscene and offensive remarks on social media targeting the Hindu community. He wrote, “The forefathers (of Hindus) died washing the Mughals’ underwear, and now the son says we will end Islam,” followed by slogans such as “Islam zindabad” and “Allahu Akbar.” This was not merely a personal opinion or a casual comment; it was a deliberate, demeaning, and provocative statement aimed at humiliating Hindu ancestors and denigrating the Hindu community’s religious and cultural identity. The accused's comments implied that Hindus were subservient to the Mughal tyrants and sought to mock the sacrifices and struggles of Hindu ancestors, while at the same time glorifying Islam through the Mughal rule, and their atrocities over the Hindu community. It invoked one of the most painful periods of Hindu history, when atrocities committed by Mughal rulers were deeply rooted in religious hostility, making such remarks particularly offensive and hurtful. Furthermore, by glorifying Islam in the same statement and while simultaneously talking about the humiliation of the Hindus, it was a clear attempt to assert religious superiority over the Hindu community while simultaneously humiliating them. The phrases “Islam zindabad” and “Allahu Akbar” immediately following an insult to Hindu forefathers reinforced this intention — they framed the statement not as an individual expression, but as a religiously charged proclamation designed to demean another faith. The expression “Islam zinda baad, Allah hu akbar” following an insult to Hindu forefathers reinforces this intention; it frames the comment not as a personal belief but as a religiously motivated assertion designed to belittle another faith. Therefore, the case meets the essential characteristics of a hate crime, as it was evidently motivated by religious bias and hostility towards the Hindu community. It was not a random act of online misconduct but a deliberate attempt to insult, provoke, and incite hatred on religious grounds, making it a clear instance of hate speech and communal hostility. Therefore, the case meets the essential characteristics of a hate crime as it was motivated by religious bias against the Hindu community. In essence, this was not a random act of online misconduct but a religiously motivated insult and provocation, making it a clear instance of hate speech and communal hostility. In recent times, social media has increasingly become a platform for anti-Hindu hate, with derogatory memes, videos, and messages targeting Hindu religious symbols, practices, and beliefs. Such content forms part of a broader pattern of Hinduphobia and religiously motivated online hate, and it is therefore being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records the date of an incident based on when the crime occurred rather than when it was reported by the media. In this case, the media did not specify the exact date on which the objectionable posts were made. Therefore, the date of the incident has been recorded as the date on which the complaint was filed — 30 October 2025.