Attack on Hindu beliefs: Muslim man sells non-vegetarian food at Gita recital event, deceitfully feeds it to devotees
Kolkata, West Bengal, India 
7 December, 2025
Case Summary
In Kolkata, West Bengal, a Hindu religious event known as the Gita Path—where devotees recite the sacred Bhagavad Gita—was deliberately defiled by a Muslim vendor named Sheikh Riyazul. The accused brazenly sold chicken patties during the Gita recital at the event venue. When devotees asked what he sold, he deceived them by insisting it was vegetarian food and deceitfully fed non-vegetarian patties to innocent devotees. Following this, when the Hindu customers discovered the chicken inside, fury erupted into disputes and altercations. According to media reports, the incident took place at the event organised by the Sanatan Sanskriti Sangshad on 8th December 2025. The accused Sheikh Riyazul, a resident of Arambagh, sold vegetarian and non-vegetarian food items during the Gita Path. A viral video of this incident spread across social media. In it, when a few Hindu devotees approached him and asked what he was selling, he said it was vegetarian patties (sabji patties) and deceitfully fed them chicken patties. Following this, the Hindu devotees discovered chicken pieces inside the patties, leading to a confrontation that escalated into physical altercations where the hurt devotees thrashed the Muslim accused. After the video of the thrashing of the Muslim accused went viral on social media, left-wing political parties like TMC (Trinamool Congress) and CPI (Communist Party of India (Marxist)) condemned the incident, calling it "mob lynching culture". However, countering them, BJP leader Debjit Sarkar responded to the incident and questioned the appropriateness of selling non-vegetarian food near a religious gathering. “Can Gita Path be done after eating chicken patties? During Gita Path, if a man enters with chicken patties, it shows how reluctant they are,” Sarkar said.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Attack on Hindu religious representations. The subcategory selected is- Defiling religious customs. Sanatan Dharma is not a religion of one book, which is to say that while it has religious scriptures that form the central tenets of the faith, there are several traditions followed through thousands of years, mostly passed from generation to generation orally. There are several such customs and traditions that are followed by various Hindus and Hindu sects. Defiling of these traditions and customs is a breach of an individual or group’s religious practices. Such practices can range from dietary restrictions like not eating non-vegetarian food for a certain period of the year, not eating non-vegetarian food at all, not eating beef since the cow is considered holy in Hinduism, the sanctity of religious customs followed in the house (like many ISCKON devotees), etc. Any malicious action leading to the breach of such traditions or defilement of these traditions owing to animosity towards the faith or for the sake of activism stems not only from the lack of faith in the religion itself but also from disregard for the faith of the devotees who follow the customs/traditions and implicit bias against the faith, the tradition itself. Since these specific traditions are central to the faith of the devotees of that specific sect of Hindus, any non-compliance with these traditional rules would be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. Another primary category selected is- Attack not resulting in death. The subcategory selected is- Attack against Hindu devotees. Hindu devotees are a few of the easiest targets of religiously motivated hate crimes because during the festival/procession/puja etc, for non-Hindus it is easy to profile their victims on the basis of religion. Hindu devotees come under attack on several occasions by individual non-Hindus or mobs of non-Hindus owing to their animosity against Hinduism, its symbols and tradition/practices. There are several instances of Hindu devotees being attacked while they worship in temples or temporary religious structures, during religious processions, doing bhajan/kirtan/puja in their own homes, in the residential society etc. These attacks are perpetrated by non-Hindus primarily because of their animosity towards Hindus and their faith. In some cases, the trigger for the violence may be non-religious, however, there are two elements that make these hate crimes. First, the Hindus who come under attack are attacked violently while indulging in religious activity. Whether they are in a place of worship or not is immaterial to the crime. When individuals are attacked while indulging in religious practices, the attack in itself is a hindrance to their freedom to practice religion and therefore constitutes a hate crime. Secondly, religious supremacist doctrines and ideologies deem religious practices of Hindus to be offensive ab initio since they are considered “sinful” by these ideologies, worthy to be annihilated by force or coercion. Driven by these religious supremacist ideologies and doctrines, the attacks against Hindu devotees stem from intrinsic animosity towards Hinduism. In some cases, the trigger for the violence may be non-religious, however, it develops into a religiously motivated crime during the course of the violence. Since these attacks stem from animosity towards Hindus and Hinduism, they are considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. In this case, the deliberate sale of chicken patties by the Muslim vendor Sheikh Riyazul at a sacred Gita Path event constitutes a blatant, religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus. The Gita Path, a cornerstone of Gita Jayanti recitals, sees devout Hindus chanting verses from the Bhagavad Gita to honour Lord Krishna's eternal teachings on dharma (righteousness), ritual purity, and spiritual elevation—practices that strictly require unwavering vegetarianism to safeguard the sanctity of every participant. The majority sects of Hindus regard non-vegetarian food as inherently impure, especially during such religious observances. They consider it a grave violation of the ritual cleanliness vital during these observances, where even the smallest impurity shatters the soul's sacred communion with the divine. The accused, Sheikh Riyazul's, brazen and deliberate act of selling chicken patties right in the midst of this holy gathering was no accident; it amounted to a calculated defilement of Hindu customs, propelled by deep-seated religious animosity designed to undermine the Hindu community's faith and openly mock their time-honoured traditions. Furthermore, Sheikh Riyazul went beyond mere selling—he deceitfully fed these impure chicken patties to innocent Hindu devotees, brazenly lying that they were vegetarian to trick them into consumption. When the horrified devotees uncovered the hidden meat, their righteous fury ignited fierce confrontations and physical altercations as they valiantly defended their desecrated sanctity. This vicious deception pierces the core of Hindu devotees' pure vegetarianism, a solemn lifelong or event-specific vow embraced by countless sects within Hinduism to uphold spiritual cleanliness during the Gita Path. Fully aware of these rituals' profound significance and Hindus' strict abstinence from non-vegetarian food, the accused's calculated scheme to desecrate their observance exposes raw religious hatred—not only defiling the event but ravaging the devotees' innermost faith. This irrefutably marks it as a hate crime driven by animosity towards the Hindu community, a direct attack on Hindu devotees' faith, and a textbook religiously motivated crime. Given that this case fully meets the criteria of an anti-Hindu hate crime, it has been added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
