Hindu deities insulted in viral video by Muslim man in Hafizganj, Uttar Pradesh
Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India 
18 July, 2025
Case Summary
In Hafizganj, a man named Aslam shared a video on social media making derogatory comments about Hindu deities, sparking outrage among locals. Angry citizens lodged complaints on X (formerly Twitter) and demanded action from the police administration. Following complaints from villagers, the police initiated an investigation into the matter. District President of the National Human Rights Commission, Sayma Khan, wrote a complaint letter to the Chief Minister, stating that Aslam, a resident of the Hafizganj area, is posting objectionable comments and videos against Hindu deities on social media platforms. Station in-charge Pawan Kumar stated that action will be taken based on the findings of the inquiry.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of - Hate speech against Hindus. The sub-category relevant under 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 incident qualifies as a hate crime because it involves the targeted denigration of the Hindu faith through social media by deliberately mocking sacred deities. The accused, by circulating videos with derogatory comments about Hindu deities, has intentionally sought to insult and provoke religious sentiments, thereby targeting Hindus solely on the basis of their religious identity. Such actions are often motivated by religious animosity towards Hinduism and are consistent with patterns observed in other documented cases of anti-Hindu hate speech. While the act itself may be individual, it primarily stems from Islam's opposition to polytheism and has historically manifested in hostility toward Hindu practices and symbols and other polytheistic religions, which are seen as idolatrous. This ideological foundation has, in many instances, been used to justify the denigration of Hindu beliefs. It is important to highlight that such speech is not merely offensive but actively seeks to marginalise and dehumanise Hindus based on their religious identity, thereby fulfilling the criteria for hate speech. Hence, this case is added to the hate crime database. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that the report does not specify the exact date when the anti-Hindu post was posted on social media. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
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