Religious hate targeting Hindus: Kanwar Yatra devotees served juice mixed with urine and saliva by Muslim shopkeeper and aides

Case ID : 9957eee | Location : Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 12 July, 2025

Case ID : 9957eee

Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

12 July, 2025

Religious hate targeting Hindus: Kanwar Yatra devotees served juice mixed with urine and saliva by Muslim shopkeeper and aides

Attack on Hindu religious representations

Defiling religious customs

Attack not resulting in death

Attack against Hindu devotees

Case Summary

In the Nandgram area of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, Hindu devotees participating in the Kanwar Yatra, a pilgrimage observed by followers of Lord Shiva, were served juice mixed with urine and saliva by two Muslim youths named Zeeshan and Mahtab. The Kanwar Yatra is an annual Hindu pilgrimage in which devotees of Lord Shiva, known as Kanwariyas, travel to holy sites such as Haridwar, Gaumukh, and Gangotri in Uttarakhand to collect sacred water from the Ganga River and offer it to Lord Shiva, particularly at local temples. This is considered a highly revered tradition among Hindus. According to reports, the incident occurred at the 'Delhi Juice Corner', situated on NH-58 near Sihani Chungi Chowki under the jurisdiction of Nandgram police station in Ghaziabad. The shop is owned by a Muslim man named Salman. Local residents reported that the Muslims had mixed urine and saliva into the juice they sold and served it to Kanwar devotees. The shop is located on a route frequented daily by large numbers of Kanwar devotees. When checking the premises, locals found a suspicious yellow bottle in the shop that contained urine. Upon receiving information about the incident, members of Hindu organisations gathered at the location and raised concerns regarding the name and operation of the shop. The locals stated that the name 'Delhi Juice Corner' had been deliberately chosen to confuse and target Hindu devotees. The police intervened, took control of the situation, detained two Muslim youths, Zeeshan and Mahtab, working at the shop, and began their interrogation. The Food Safety Department also arrived at the scene. Led by Food Safety Officer Bhavna Agariya, the team took samples of juice and other suspicious materials from the shop and sent them to the laboratory for investigation. The department also sealed the shop after initial checks found the premises unhygienic. Following this, the police appealed to the public to maintain peace and stated that strict legal action would be taken against anyone who tries to spread rumours or incite communal tension. Ashwani Sharma, city publicity officer of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, said that 'Delhi Juice Corner' was owned by Salman, a resident of the Bahraich district, and that Zeeshan and Mahtab were employed there. According to Sharma, two young Hindu men visited the stall, observed that spit and urine were being mixed into the juice, and recorded a video on their phones. Even the police found a bottle filled with urine inside the shop. Reports also noted that, a day before, another juice shop named 'Bharat Juice' in Siddharth Vihar had done a similar act. In that instance as well, the operator was from the Muslim community and deceived the customers by wearing Hindu symbols. After this incident, Loni MLA Nandkishore Gurjar approached the Ghaziabad DCP office and called for strict action.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Attack on Hindu religious representations. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Defiling religious customs. Sanatan Dharma is not a religion of one book, which is to say that while it has religious scriptures that form the central tenets of the faith, there are several traditions followed through thousands of years, mostly passed from generation to generation orally. There are several such customs and traditions that are followed by various Hindus and Hindu sects. Defiling of these traditions and customs is a breach of an individual or group’s religious practices. Such practices can range from dietary restrictions like not eating non-vegetarian food for a certain period of the year, not eating non-vegetarian food at all, not eating beef since the cow is considered holy in Hinduism, the sanctity of religious customs followed in the house (like many ISCKON devotees), etc. Any malicious action leading to the breach of such traditions or defilement of these traditions owing to animosity towards the faith or for the sake of activism stems not only from the lack of faith in the religion itself but also from disregard for the faith of the devotees who follow the customs/traditions and implicit bias against the faith, the tradition itself. Since these specific traditions are central to the faith of the devotees of that specific sect of Hindus, any non-compliance with these traditional rules would be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. The other primary category selected in this case is- Attack not resulting in death. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Attack against Hindu devotees. Hindu devotees are a few of the easiest targets of religiously motivated hate crimes because during the festival/procession/puja etc, for non-Hindus it is easy to profile their victims on the basis of religion. Hindu devotees come under attack on several occasions by individual non-Hindus or mobs of non-Hindus owing to their animosity against Hinduism, its symbols and tradition/practices. There are several instances of Hindu devotees being attacked while they worship in temples or temporary religious structures, during religious processions, doing bhajan/kirtan/puja in their own homes, in the residential society etc. These attacks are perpetrated by non-Hindus primarily because of their animosity towards Hindus and their faith. In some cases, the trigger for the violence may be non-religious, however, there are two elements that make these hate crimes. First, the Hindus who come under attack are attacked violently while indulging in religious activity. Whether they are in a place of worship or not is immaterial to the crime. When individuals are attacked while indulging in religious practices, the attack in itself is a hindrance to their freedom to practice religion and therefore constitutes a hate crime. Secondly, religious supremacist doctrines and ideologies deem religious practices of Hindus to be offensive ab initio since they are considered “sinful” by these ideologies, worthy to be annihilated by force or coercion. Driven by these religious supremacist ideologies and doctrines, the attacks against Hindu devotees stem from intrinsic animosity towards Hinduism. In some cases, the trigger for the violence may be non-religious, however, it develops into a religiously motivated crime during the course of the violence. Since these attacks stem from animosity towards Hindus and Hinduism, they are considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. In this case, the deliberate act of serving juice mixed with urine and saliva to Kanwar Yatra devotees (Kanwariyas) constitutes a hate crime against Hindus. The Kanwar Yatra is not merely a physical journey; it is one of the most sacred annual Hindu pilgrimages, deeply rooted in spirituality, devotion, and faith. Kanwariyas undertake this pilgrimage as a form of penance, walking for days, often barefoot, across long distances to collect holy water from the river Ganga and offer it to Lord Shiva. To contaminate food or drink specifically meant for these pilgrims is to deliberately defile the sacred Kanwar Yatra itself. It is a direct attack on the sanctity of their religious practice and an attempt to undermine the devotion of Hindus. These are not accidents or oversights; rather, they are deliberate, malicious actions aimed at insulting and desecrating a sacred Hindu tradition. Such actions are a result of deep-seated religious animosity towards the Hindu community. This is far more than an attack on individuals; it is a direct attack on Hindu devotees and their religious sentiments. By choosing to harm Kanwariyas during a period of spiritual dedication, the Muslim perpetrators sought to humiliate and degrade the Hindu community and their faith. Such acts are designed to violate the faith of Hindu devotees and cause deep emotional and spiritual distress. Such actions are calculated and malicious, intended to provoke outrage and instil insecurity among those Hindus who are peacefully practising their religion. Such instances showcase that the act was rooted in religious hostility towards Hinduism and its adherents, making it a religiously motivated crime. It is also important to mention here that this was not an isolated incident. Just a day before this incident, another Muslim juice vendor in a separate instance had served drinks contaminated with saliva to Hindu customers. In both instances, similar methods were used by the Muslim perpetrators to humiliate and harm Hindu devotees en route to one of the most sacred religious events. These repeated acts cannot be dismissed as coincidences; rather, they point to a disturbing pattern of premeditated attacks targeting the Hindu community. When such crimes occur repeatedly and with similar intent, they foster an atmosphere of fear and mistrust among Hindu devotees who feel that their religious practices and traditions are under threat. The consistency and targeting seen in these incidents strongly suggest that they are not individual actions but part of a wider, deliberate attempt to hurt the religious beliefs of Hindus. Since this case meets multiple parameters of a religiously motivated crime, therefore, it is being added to the hate crime database. Disclaimer: Media reports do not mention the total number of devotees affected by this incident. They only specify two Hindu men who first discovered the contamination. Therefore, for documentation purposes, the number of victims is being recorded as ‘2’.