Hate speech targeting Hindus: Ambedkarite leader threatens to kill Hindu devotees during Kanwar Yatra
Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, India 
12 October, 2025
Case Summary
The Hindu community was issued violent threats by a follower of Ambedkarism, an anti-Hindu political movement, named Prakash Chandra Gautam. The Ambedkarite leader stated that if his government came to power, he would kill Kanwariyas, Hindu devotees who take part in the Kanwar Yatra, a sacred Hindu pilgrimage. The Kanwar Yatra is an annual Hindu pilgrimage observed during the holy month of Sharavan by Hindu devotees of Lord Shiva, known as Kanwariyas. They travel to holy sites such as Haridwar, Gaumukh, and Gangotri in Uttarakhand to collect sacred water from the Ganga River, which they then offer to Lord Shiva at local Hindu temples. This tradition is highly revered among Hindus. According to reports, the accused, Prakash Chandra Gautam, is the District President of the Bhim Army, an anti-Hindu Ambedkarite organisation, in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh. An audio clip of the accused's threats circulated widely on social media. In the audio clip, the accused threatened to kill Kanwariyas by running trucks over them. Subsequently, a case was registered against Prakash, following a complaint by the Sub-Inspector at the Kotwali Hathras Gate Police Station. While the Sub-Inspector was on patrol, he received information that the viral clip was circulating on WhatsApp. In this clip, the accused, Prakash, was heard telling another person that if he and his party came to power, they would run four to six trucks over the Kanwariyas. This conversation happened between the accused, Prakash, and other workers of the Bhim Army. Considering the fact that this incident could disturb peace and communal harmony, the police immediately began investigating this matter.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category selected in this case is- Hate Speech against Hindus. The 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. In this case, the accused's threat to crush Kanwariyas, Hindu devotees of Lord Shiva, under trucks if ever a Kanwar Yatra takes place while his political party is in power. This constitutes a clear case of hate speech. The Kanwar Yatra is a deeply revered Hindu pilgrimage symbolising purity, faith, penance, and religious identity. Violent threats directed at devotees who take part in this sacred journey undermine not only the pilgrimage itself but also the religious sentiments of millions of Hindus. Such threats attack the very heart of a peaceful and venerated tradition, aiming to intimidate and silence practising Hindus by instilling fear linked explicitly to their religious practices and identity. Furthermore, the act of threatening Hindu devotees in this context reveals profound religious animosity. The Kanwar Yatra is a spiritually significant and vulnerable time when devotees focus entirely on their sacred journey. Issuing threats to harm or kill them signals deep-seated hostility and hatred toward the Hindu community. These menacing statements reflect not just political rhetoric but targeted religious hatred, intended to terrorise Hindus and disrupt their ability to express and uphold their faith freely. The threat is as much an attack on Hindu devotional life as it is on the community’s sense of safety and identity. Such violent threats are a result of deep-rooted hatred and contempt for the Hindu community and Hinduism, making it a religiously motivated hate speech. It is also critical to note that the accused is the District President of the Bhim Army, a group with a well-documented anti-Hindu ideological stance. The ideology of Ambedkarism, promoted by this group, often masquerades as a fight against casteism, yet in practice frequently targets the Hindu faith, attacking Hindu temples and scriptures, desecrating sacred places, and disparaging Hindu deities. The threats made in this case fit within this ongoing pattern of hostility, highlighting entrenched religious animosity designed to undermine and intimidate the Hindu community. It is also important to highlight that while the Bhim Army presents itself as a champion of Dalit rights, its actions and affiliations often contradict this claim. Dalits are very much Hindus, yet the Bhim Army frequently targets Hindu symbols, festivals, and practices, including those held sacred by Dalits themselves. This pattern suggests that the organisation’s agenda is less about genuine Dalit upliftment and more aligned with broader anti-Hindu narratives that seek to divide and weaken Hindu society from within. This becomes particularly apparent when the Bhim Army aligns with leftist and Islamist platforms, where identity politics is weaponised against Hindus. In such spaces, the micro identities of caste, region, and language are secondary; what matters most is religious identity. It is the Hindu identity, regardless of caste, that often becomes the target of animosity. As seen in cases where Dalit families were attacked for displaying Hindu symbols or worshipping deities, the hostility stems not from caste differences, but from a disdain for Hindu religiosity. For example, on May 19, 2020, reports emerged in which a Dalit family in Bihar’s Kishanganj district accused the local Bhim Army unit of attacking them for their Hindu beliefs, desecrating a temple as they objected to their reverence for Hindu deities and saffron flags. Similarly, on June 29, 2021, in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu named Saurabh Sharma was attacked by Bhim Army members over political differences. The assailants used swords and rods, causing severe injuries, and threatened to eliminate the Brahmin community from the area. Moreover, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad has repeatedly made statements and taken positions that reflect his anti-Hindu stance. For instance, he has publicly endorsed conversion as a political weapon, invoking B.R. Ambedkar’s decision to leave Hinduism, and has actively supported movements that call for a rejection of Hindu festivals and practices. In fact, Chandrashekhar Azad's political trajectory has strongly focused on building a Dalit-Muslim alliance, a strategy that became particularly visible during his active participation in the anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) protests that culminated in the Delhi anti-Hindu Riots 2020. His brand of politics, under the banner of Dalit-Muslim unity, has contributed to narratives that vilify Hindu traditions and exacerbate targeted attacks against Hindus. Thus, by attacking Hindu symbols and aligning with forces hostile to Hinduism at large, the Bhim Army effectively turns against the cultural and spiritual traditions of the Dalit community itself. In doing so, it reinforces the very forces of division and religious antagonism that marginalise Dalits, not as a caste, but as Hindus. This contradiction reveals that, despite its stated mission, the Bhim Army’s trajectory increasingly serves an anti-Hindu, rather than a pro-Dalit agenda. Given that this case meets the parameters of a religiously motivated hate speech, it is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records the dates of incidents based on when the crime occurred, rather than when it is reported by the media. However, in this case, as media reports have not stated the exact date of the crime, the earliest date of the media report's publication, 13th October 2025, is chosen as an indicative date for the incident. Furthermore, considering that media reports have not specified the exact location from where the accused made the threats, the location of the accused remains unknown. Therefore, the indicative place of the incident is considered to be Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, which is the same area where he serves as the District President of the Bhim Army. This is used for the purpose of documentation only.
Case Status
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Others
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
