Targeting of Hindu faith and community: Muslim man abuses Hindu deities, threatens to slaughter Hindus
Delhi, Delhi, India 
3 October, 2025
Case Summary
In Delhi, derogatory remarks against Hindu deities and threats of slaughter against Hindus were made by a Muslim man named Mohammad Shamshad Alam. Delhi Police arrested Mohammad Shamshad Alam for using abusive language against Hindu deities like Goddess Durga and police officers, and for openly threatening to “slaughter Hindus.” The arrest took place in the Ruby Nursery area of Vasant Kunj, South Delhi. A video of Shamshad Alam making inflammatory and threatening remarks against Hindus and their deities went viral on social media. In the video, Shamshad can be heard saying in an aggressive tone, “Go ahead, record the video, file an FIR… everything will be over soon, people (Hindus) will be cut down.” When someone asked him, “Will you really cut them (Hindus)?”, he replied without hesitation, “Yes, we (Muslims) will,” repeating the threat several times with hand gestures. He also made derogatory comments about the police and Goddess Durga. Following the video going viral, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) lodged a complaint. Based on the VHP’s complaint, police registered a case under sections 196(1A) (deliberately hurting religious sentiments) and 299 (using abusive language) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Subsequently, the accused was apprehended.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Hate Speech against Hindus. The 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 is a clear case of anti-Hindu hate speech and a hate crime. Firstly, the Muslim accused abused Hindu deities, particularly Goddess Durga. In Hinduism, deities are not mere idols but sacred manifestations of the divine. Goddess Durga, revered as the supreme Shakti and protective mother of the universe, embodies strength, righteousness, and the victory of good over evil. She is a warrior goddess who combats demonic forces threatening cosmic order and moral values. Acts of abusing Goddess Durga and other Hindu deities in such a derogatory manner are deeply offensive to Hindus. This blatant disrespect signals that the accused harboured deep-seated religious animosity towards the Hindu community and their faith, making it an act of anti-Hindu hate speech. Secondly, the accused threatened to slaughter all Hindus. Such threats reveal a profound and dangerous religious animosity. The communal threat to kill an entire religious community reflects hatred extending beyond individuals to the whole Hindu community, making this a religiously motivated crime. The casual ease with which the accused issued these violent threats demonstrates that hatred towards Hindus is entrenched and normalised in his outlook. This religious animosity is rooted in the teachings of the Islamic doctrine, which preaches contempt, hatred, and dehumanisation of Hindus and other non-Muslims alike. This doctrinal hostility fuels such violent hate speech and Muslim mob aggression against Hindus. Given that this case meets all parameters of religiously motivated hate speech and hate crime targeting Hindus, it will be added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker generally records the date of the incident based on when the crime occurred. However, in this particular case, media reports do not specify the exact date of the incident. Therefore, we have used the date when it was first reported in the media, which is 4th October 2025. This date is considered an indicative date of the incident.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
