Hindu religious leader abused, his saffron attire mocked by Muslim youths in Hyderabad over ''I Love Muhammad'' controversy

Case ID : b1c5ca6 | Location : Hyderabad, Telangana, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 7 October, 2025

Case ID : b1c5ca6

Hyderabad, Telangana, India

7 October, 2025

Hindu religious leader abused, his saffron attire mocked by Muslim youths in Hyderabad over ''I Love Muhammad'' controversy

Hate speech against Hindus

Mocking/denigrating Hindu leaders

Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith

Case Summary

In Hyderabad, Telangana, derogatory remarks against Hindu religious leader Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, were made by Muslim youths. The accused also mocked Yogi Adityanath's saffron attire, a Hindu religious attire. This took place in connection with the ‘I Love Muhammad’ controversy. According to media reports, the Muslim youths set up an ‘I Love Muhammad’ banner in Chandrayangutta, Hyderabad, recorded a video, and posted it on social media. In the footage, several Muslim youths gravely insulted Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and used vulgar language against him. They made remarks, stating, “This is not Uttar Pradesh; this is Hyderabad. Your tricks will not work here.” They declared, “Today, we have put up an ‘I Love Muhammad’ banner at Chandrayangutta in Hyderabad. If you have the courage, try to remove it!” They challenged that anyone wishing to remove the banner would first have to confront them. “Call us whatever you want — jihadis, terrorists — we don’t care,” they said. Following this, they hurled an extremely anti-Hindu insult towards Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, saying, “You will have to wear a saffron saree, put on bangles, and dance.” This statement was a deliberate act of disrespect towards the saffron attire worn by Yogi Adityanath, as saffron is a colour deeply associated with Hinduism and the Hindu community. A video of the Muslim youths was shared by Telangana BJP IT and Social Media Cell Executive, Thatipamula Saikiran. It sparked widespread outrage online, with many social media users demanding prompt police action, the arrest of those involved, and strict punishment for verbally abusing the Chief Minister. This incident did not emerge in isolation but forms part of a larger pattern of organised agitation by Muslims across India, centred on the “I Love Muhammad” campaign. The campaign itself arose from a controversy deliberately misrepresented by Muslim groups. On 5th September 2025, violence broke out in Rawatpur, Kanpur, during a Barawafat procession, when Muslims attacked and defaced Hindu posters. This was following a complaint by Hindus, where police removed an “I Love Muhammad” poster that had been fixed on the Ram Navami gate on 4th September 2025. An FIR was then lodged against Muslims for vandalising Hindu posters, but they twisted the narrative, claiming that the police action was taken against Muslims for merely putting up “I Love Muhammad” posters. This distortion became the rallying cry for Muslims to organise protests and violence across several districts. Slogans of “Sar Tan Se Juda” were raised in rallies, and Hindus, as well as police personnel, were attacked. Therefore, this case is not an isolated outburst but a continuation of an orchestrated campaign of intimidation, openly challenging law and order while asserting Islamic supremacy.

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- Mocking/denigrating Hindu leaders. Hate speech is defined as any speech, gesture, conduct, writing, or display that is prejudicial against a specific individual and/or group of people, which is leading to or may lead to violence, prejudicial action or hate against that individual and/or group. Religious leaders are often seen as representatives of the community, especially, the community’s religious faith and beliefs. Mocking or denigrating a religious leader specifically owing to his religious identity and/or the religious rituals he observes can be considered hate speech because the motivating factor of the speech is animosity and/or dislike for what he represents – the religious beliefs and faith of the community. It is important to note that mere insulting words against an individual do not constitute hate speech. It is entirely possible that insulting words are used for an individual, however, the specific speech is not the result of religious hate and/or animosity towards the professed faith of the religious leader, but the individual himself. For the speech to be considered hate speech, the speech itself or the motivating factor behind the speech has to be religious in nature. Such speech which denigrates Hindu religious leaders specifically owing to animosity towards the faith they profess and the community faith they represent will be treated as hate speech under this category. The other subcategory selected in this case 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. This case cannot be examined in isolation; it belongs to a wider sequence of events that began with anti-Hindu aggression. The backdrop of this controversy lies in the incident of 4th–5th September 2025, when, during a Barawafat procession in Rawatpur, Kanpur, Muslims vandalised Hindu posters and banners. Following this, a complaint was filed by Hindus, and action was taken against rioting Muslims. A day earlier, police had removed an “I Love Muhammad” poster that had been illegally fixed on the Ram Navami gate. The FIR was lodged against Muslims for vandalising Hindu religious posters. However, this straightforward case of vandalism was deliberately distorted by Muslims, who portrayed themselves as victims and claimed that police action had been taken only because they displayed “I Love Muhammad” posters. This misrepresentation was not incidental but calculated, for it became the rallying point for widespread mobilisation across Uttar Pradesh and beyond. In the weeks that followed, Muslims organised rallies and agitations where lethal slogans such as “Sar Tan Se Juda” were openly raised. These slogans are not symbolic protests but direct calls for beheading, a form of religiously sanctioned violence. Hindus were attacked in several places, temples were desecrated, and even police attempting to maintain order were assaulted. This incident in Hyderabad was a clear instance of anti-Hindu speech. The accused did not target Yogi Adityanath for his political leadership, but for his religious identity and position as a revered Hindu leader. Yogi Adityanath is not only the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh; he is also the head of the Gorakhnath Math, a prominent Hindu religious institution of the Nath sect. By abusing him in the most derogatory terms, the accused deliberately attacked him as a Hindu religious figure, displaying deep-seated animosity towards the Hindu faith and the Hindu community. This was not political criticism — it was religiously motivated hate speech aimed at humiliating a Hindu leader for his faith and his spiritual standing among Hindus. The accused also mocked the saffron attire worn by Yogi Adityanath by saying, “You will have to wear a saffron saree, put on bangles, and dance.” This was not an offhand insult; it was a deliberate targeting of one of Hinduism’s most important religious symbols. Saffron holds sacred significance in Hinduism — it is the colour of renunciation, purity, and sacrifice, worn by saints and spiritual leaders as a mark of their devotion and service to God. By mocking the saffron attire specifically associated with Yogi Adityanath, the accused insulted not just him, but the entire Hindu faith and community. This was a public act of religious disrespect, calculated to demean a central Hindu religious symbol. Given that this incident took place in the backdrop of the broader ‘I Love Muhammad’ controversy — which itself carried anti-Hindu overtones and sparked communal tensions — the nature of this abuse becomes even clearer. The accused saw Yogi Adityanath as a Hindu leader and chose to attack him for his faith and for what he represents to millions of Hindus. This was an act steeped in religious hatred towards Hinduism, its adherents, and its leaders. For these reasons, this case is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records the date of an incident based on when the crime occurred, rather than when it is reported by the media. In this case, media reports did not specify the exact date on which the hate speech was made. The video containing the remarks was posted on social media on 8th October 2025 by Telangana BJP IT and Social Media Cell Executive, Thatipamula Saikiran. Therefore, this date is being considered as the indicative date of the incident.