Hindu man attacked; derogatory remarks passed on Mahakumbh by Muslim men

Case ID : 90a094d | Location : Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 2 March, 2025

Case ID : 90a094d

Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

2 March, 2025

Hindu man attacked; derogatory remarks passed on Mahakumbh by Muslim men

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim

Hate speech against Hindus

Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith

Case Summary

In Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu youth named Abhay Pandey was attacked by Muslims. The Muslims beat him up and passed derogatory remarks against the Mahakumbh Mela. The Hindu victim narrated his ordeal and said, "Arman told me that instead of going to Mahakumbh, I should have taken a bath in his urine. When I protested, he started abusing Kumbh, UP CM Yogi, and the Indian PM, Narendra Modi. Then he called his friends, and they beat me mercilessly. Later, police tried to pressure me into withdrawing the complaint, even threatened to lodge a molestation case against me." Abhay Pandey said that he had gone to a shop in the locality to have tea near the shop of a Muslim man named Arman. Two Muslim men named Aftab and Kaif worked along with Arman. Arman came to Abhay and started making derogatory remarks about Mahakumbh. When Abhay responded, Arman called Aftab and Kaif and they started beating him. Hindu Post posted the video of the victim, where he narrated his ordeal. He said that when Abhay reached out to the police, they asked him to take back his complaint. The police threatened Abhay with fake molestation cases if he did not obey. According to media reports, an FIR has been registered under BNS sections 191 (rioting), 33 (wrongful restraint and house trespass), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 351(2) (criminal intimidation) against the accused, and all three accused were arrested.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The case has been added to the tracker under two prime categories. The first is- Attack not resulting in death. Under this, the first sub-category selected is- Attacked for Hindu identity. In several cases, Hindus are attacked merely for their Hindu identity without any perceived provocation. A classic example of this category of religiously motivated hate crime is a murder in 2016. 7 ISIS terrorists were convicted for shooting a school principal in Kanpur because they got ‘triggered’ seeing the Kalava on his wrist and tilak that he had put. In this, the Hindu victim had offered no provocation except for his Hindu religious identity. The motivation for the murder was purely religious, driven by religious supremacy. Such cases where Hindus are targeted merely for their religious identity would be documented as a hate crime under this category. The second sub-category selected under the above-mentioned category is- Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim. In several cases, Hindus are attacked for opposing religiously motivated crimes being committed against a fellow Hindu or simply for voicing an opinion opposing radical elements, who either have in the past or continue to persecute Hindus. In such cases, the initial attack against the victim, against which the Hindu was trying to defend the victim, would also need to be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime. Since the initial crime itself was religiously motivated and the subsequent crime of attempting to save the victim or speaking against the radical elements ends up inviting a violent attack, it would also be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. Further, the second prime category under which this case has been placed is- Hate speech against Hindus and within this, 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. The attack on Abhay Pandey was not an isolated act of violence but was explicitly motivated by his Hindu identity and his religious beliefs. The derogatory remarks made by the accused, particularly Arman’s statement that Abhay should have bathed in his urine instead of visiting the Mahakumbh Mela, demonstrate deep-seated contempt for Hindu traditions. The Mahakumbh Mela is a sacred Hindu pilgrimage that holds immense religious and cultural significance, and mocking it in such a vile manner is an attack on the faith itself. Beyond verbal abuse, the fact that the accused escalated the situation to physical violence highlights their intent to suppress and intimidate the Hindu victim for defending his religious beliefs. It is also important to highlight here that Abhay Pandey was physically assaulted after he protested against the derogatory remarks made about the Mahakumbh Mela. His mere act of standing up for his faith and countering the insults directed at Hindu traditions provoked a violent response from the Muslim accused. The escalation from verbal abuse to physical assault indicates that the attackers sought to silence and intimidate him for refusing to submit to their radical views. Given the elements of targeted religious mockery and physical assault to suppress the Hindu victim's voice, this case is undeniably a hate crime against Hindus, which is why it has been added to the tracker.