Hindu judge who ordered Gyanvapi survey called ‘Kafir’, threatened with death by Muslim ISIS terrorist

Case ID : a0490a2 | Location : Delhi, India | Date of Incident : Mon, 3 June, 2024

Case ID : a0490a2

Delhi, India

3 June, 2024

Hindu judge who ordered Gyanvapi survey called ‘Kafir’, threatened with death by Muslim ISIS terrorist

Hate speech against Hindus

Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith

Violent threats

Case Summary

A Hindu judge who had ordered the videographic survey of the Gyanvapi structure in Varanasi was targeted with religiously motivated death threats by an ISIS-linked terrorist. The accused, Mohammad Adnan Khan alias Abu Muharib (19), a resident of Delhi, was arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell in October 2025 after the dismantling of an active ISIS terror module. Investigations revealed that Adnan had been previously arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in June 2024 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for issuing death threats to Additional District Judge (Fast Track Court) Bareilly, Ravi Kumar Diwakar, the Hindu judge who, in 2022, ordered the videographic survey of the disputed Gyanvapi structure. Adnan was granted bail by a special NIA court in September 2024 and subsequently resumed terrorist activities, including propaganda dissemination, online recruitment for ISIS, and procurement of materials for improvised explosive devices (IEDs). In 2024, Adnan posted a threatening message on Instagram targeting the Hindu judge, captioned: “THE KAFIR’S BLOOD IS HALAL FOR YOU THOSE WHO FIGHT AGAINST YOUR DEEN.” He had also shared an edited image of Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar with the word “KAFIR” marked prominently in red over his eyes — a symbolic threat invoking jihadist ideology and sanctioning his killing for being a non-Muslim involved in a case concerning a Hindu temple. According to the FIR filed by the Uttar Pradesh ATS, Adnan’s post was designed to incite violence against the judge, hurt Hindu religious sentiments, and spread communal hatred. The FIR further stated that his actions aimed to motivate others sharing his extremist ideology to carry out violence against the judge. After securing bail, Adnan resumed his allegiance to ISIS, reestablishing contact with a Syria-based handler, Abu Ibrahim al-Qureshi, and launching multiple online channels for radical recruitment. His arrest by the Delhi Police Special Cell in 2025 exposed his continued involvement in terrorist propaganda and operational planning.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This incident has been added to the tracker under the category of- Hate speech against Hindus. Under this, the first subcategory 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 other subcategory 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 Hinduphobia Tracker as a clear instance of religiously motivated hate and intimidation directed at a Hindu public servant. The act was not political or personal — it was an explicitly faith-driven threat inspired by Islamist ideology, targeting a Hindu judge who carried out his judicial duties in the Gyanvapi case, a matter of deep religious significance to Hindus. The accused, Mohammad Adnan Khan, an ISIS-linked terrorist, publicly threatened Additional District Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar, calling him a “kafir” and declaring that his blood was “halal” — meaning permissible to shed. The deliberate use of the word kafir, a theological term used in Islamic extremism to label non-Muslims as infidels, reveals the religious hostility and supremacy mindset underpinning the threat. The post’s imagery, featuring the judge’s face with the word “KAFIR” written across his eyes in red, was a symbolic declaration that the judge’s Hindu faith made him an enemy of Islam, warranting death. Such acts stem from a deep-rooted ideological indoctrination within Islamist thought, which divides the world into believers and non-believers. The Islamic theological doctrine of supremacy teaches that non-Muslims (kafirs) are inferior and must either submit to Islamic rule, convert, or live under subjugation (dhimmitude). These ideas are not abstract; they manifest violently in the real world, where non-Muslims, especially Hindus in India, are seen as legitimate targets for domination, coercion, or humiliation. This framework fosters an “us versus them” worldview, wherein any assertion of Hindu identity or defence of Hindu rights is seen as rebellion against Islamic authority. Consequently, when a Hindu judge ordered a videographic survey of the Gyanvapi structure, a lawful and constitutional act in the pursuit of justice, it was perceived by extremists as a direct challenge to their religious supremacy. Under this indoctrination, the perpetrator not only viewed the Hindu judge as an adversary of his faith but also felt morally obligated to threaten his life in the name of religion. By invoking religious terminology to justify violence, the terrorist effectively sought to dehumanise Hindus and create an environment of fear where even state officials are unsafe for performing duties involving Hindu religious matters. This is part of a wider pattern of anti-Hindu intimidation, where Hindu voices, whether judges, leaders, or ordinary citizens, are terrorised for upholding or expressing Hindu identity. The threat against Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar exemplifies how Islamist radicalism weaponises theology to legitimise violence against Hindus, particularly those associated with the protection or acknowledgement of Hindu sacred spaces. The incident is not merely a case of an online threat; it is a religiously motivated hate crime aimed at silencing a Hindu figure through fear, humiliation, and intimidation, reflecting the broader ideological hostility that fuels Hinduphobia across the subcontinent. Disclaimer: Although the accused, Mohammad Adnan Khan alias Abu Muharib, was arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell in October 2025 for renewed ISIS-linked activities, the religiously motivated hate act, the threat to the Hindu judge, occurred earlier. As per the FIR filed by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), the death threat calling the Hindu judge a “kafir” and declaring his blood “halal” was posted on social media in June 2024, immediately before Adnan’s arrest on June 4, 2024, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. For this reason, the date of the incident has been recorded as June 4, 2024, representing the time of the original hate act that led to his initial arrest. The latter 2025 arrest pertains to the continuation of terrorist activity and not the hate incident itself.