Dalit Hindu man given ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ threats by group of Muslim youths over social media post

Case ID : 995846d | Location : Betma, Madhya Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 24 August, 2025

Case ID : 995846d

Betma, Madhya Pradesh, India

24 August, 2025

Dalit Hindu man given ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ threats by group of Muslim youths over social media post

Hate speech against Hindus

Violent threats

Case Summary

In Daulatabad near Betma, Indore, a Dalit Hindu man named Vikas Chauhan, from the Ravidas community, was given 'Sar tan se juda' threats by a group of Muslim youths. According to reports, the Hindu man posted a video of a Maulana’s statement on his social media status. This angered the Muslim youth, who gave extreme threats of violence, including beheading threats, to the Hindu man. The Muslim youths put Vikas Chauhan’s photo on their statuses along with the song “Gustakh-e-Nabi ki ek saja, sar tan se juda” (“One punishment for blasphemy – beheading”), thereby attempting to incite riots in Betma. The victim’s family reported the matter to Manoj Parmar, national president of the All India Balai Federation, prompting the Hindu community to stage a protest. Members of the community conducted a rally, offering garlands to the statue of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar at the main square and marched to the police station, chanting slogans and demanding strict action against those responsible. A complaint was filed, and police registered an FIR against Javed Khan, Salim Shah, Monu Khan, Istkhar Khan, Salim Khan, Anwar Khan, Sagir Khan, Razzak Khan, Wasim Khan, Javed Mansuri, and Bholu Shah. Police stated that efforts were underway to locate and apprehend all those involved.

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 - Violent threats. Violent threats, explicit, implicit or implied, is the most dangerous form of hate speech since it goes beyond discriminatory and prejudicial language to express the intent of causing harm to an individual or a group of people based on their religious identity and faith. There could be several different kinds of threats that are issued to Hindus based on religious animosity. An explicit threat would mean the direct threat of violence towards an individual Hindu, a group of Hindus or Hindus at large. Physical violence, death threats, threats of destruction of property belonging to Hindus and threats of genocide would mean explicit threats against Hindus for their religious identity. Implicit threats may not be a direct threat but implied through the use of symbols of actions – for example – in the Nupur Sharma case, other than explicit threats, there were also implicit threats when Islamists took to the streets to burn and beat her effigies. It implies that they want to do the same to Nupur Sharma – thereby is considered an implicit threat. Violent threats can be delivered in person, through letters, phone calls, graffiti, or increasingly through social media and other online platforms. It would be important to understand that a threat – explicit or implicit, online or offline – to an individual who happens to be a Hindu does not qualify as a religiously motivated threat. Such a threat, while vile and dangerous, could be owing to non-religious reasons and/or personal animosity. To qualify as a religiously motivated threat, it would need to exhibit an indication that the individual is being targeted for religious reasons and/or owing to his/her religious identity as a Hindu. This case has been added to the tracker because a Dalit Hindu man was given “Sar tan se juda” (beheading) threats by a group of Muslim youths. The threats arose after the Hindu man posted a video of a Maulana on his social media status, which the Muslim youths found objectionable. Effectively, a Hindu commenting on or sharing a Maulana’s video was perceived as a provocation by the Muslim youths, leading them to believe that violence was a justified response. The chants of ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ (STSJ) against the Hindu man over such a minor incident reflect a deeply rooted intent to incite violence based on religious identity. The Muslim youths put Vikas Chauhan’s photo on their statuses along with the song “Gustakh-e-Nabi ki ek saja, sar tan se juda”, which translates to “There is only one punishment for being disrespectful to Rasool (Prophet Muhammad), their head separated from their torso, their head separated from the torso”. It is not a normal chant but an Islamist clarion call, that has become a staple feature of violent protests that have so far claimed the lives of at least 6 Hindus, including Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur and Umesh Kolhe in Amravati, after Muslim fundamentalists, egged on by the dog-whistling of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair against former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, resorted to violence for what they perceived as ‘blasphemy’ against Prophet Muhammad. From Kanpur in India’s northern plains to the southern metropolis of Bengaluru, from Kolkata in the east to Hyderabad in the south, protests in the name of blasphemy have erupted in almost every corner of the country as Islamists took to the streets running amok and shouting “Sar Tan Se Juda” chants over the perceived belief of blasphemy against the Prophet. Though a radical Muslim outfit in Pakistan coined the slogan, it has gained popularity among Islamists in regions beyond its geographical origins. Over the years, we have seen large crowds of Islamists chanting the “Sar Tan Se Juda” slogan, which is nothing but a direct incitement to violence, leading to murders committed in the name of blasphemy. The radicalised outcry is not merely a statement of disapproval; it is a call for the execution of an individual through beheading, based on their religious identity. When this slogan is raised, it sends a clear and terrifying message not just to the individual targeted but also to anyone else who might share similar views or dare to express them. This tactic of intimidation aims to silence dissent and suppress freedom of expression, particularly in religious discourse. It aims to instil fear in the broader community. Islamists use this tactic to settle personal scores with Hindu and Christian families by levelling fabricated charges of blasphemy against them, which causes outrage and paints a target on them. The underlying hatred and animosity toward non-Muslims, especially Hindus, drive these false blasphemy accusations as a means to subjugate and victimise them. As a result, this case is classified as a religiously motivated hate crime and has been documented accordingly. This aligns directly with previous patterns observed in cases where Hindus, like Nupur Sharma, have been doxxed and harassed for expressing religious opinions or criticising historical or contemporary Islamic violence. In this case, the victim’s Hindu identity and his posting of a video of a Maulana became the sole trigger for a wave of hate that was explicitly communal in nature. Therefore, this case is classified as a religiously motivated hate crime and has been documented accordingly. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when the victim’s ordeal began. However, in this case, the report does not provide when the threats were made. Therefore, for documentation purposes, the date of the incident has been recorded as the date it was reported in the media.