Leftist media portal amplifies fake news spread by LinkedIn user to paint Hindus as aggressors, claims Hindu men assaulted their Muslim colleague for refusing to chant Gayatri mantra and comment on Pahalgam massacre of Hindus
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India 
24 April, 2025
Case Summary
In the days following the Pahalgam terror attack, where Islamic terrorists massacred Hindus, social media platforms saw a surge of misinformation aimed at distorting the situation to paint Hindus, who were actually the victims of the barbaric attack, as the aggressors instead. Among these was a fake post shared on LinkedIn by a user named Ishan Saxena, who claimed that one of his Muslim friends was assaulted by his Hindu colleagues in Bengaluru for refusing to chant the Gayatri mantra and comment on the Pahalgam terrorist attack. Saxena stated that his friend, an employee at a well-known vehicle manufacturing company, was attacked for refusing to speak against the Pahalgam attack and for declining to chant the Gayatri Mantra. He later announced on LinkedIn that his friend had died. Despite the serious nature of the allegations, no credible media outlet or local Kannada news source reported any such incident, raising doubts about the authenticity of the story. When approached for clarification, the Bengaluru police did not confirm any such assault or murder. Subsequently, Saxena deleted his LinkedIn post and deactivated his account altogether. His unverified claim demonising Hindus, that had the potential to create social unrest and communal disharmony at a time of national crisis, was quickly picked up and amplified by the leftist media portal- The Quint and Islamic social media pages like ‘The Ummah Insights’, which contributed to the spread of the fake narrative. Unsuspectingly, this claim was amplified without any verification or due diligence. 'The Quint’ did so to deviate public discourse from the Pahalgam terror attack where 24 Hindus were killed by Islamic terrorists for the virtue of their Faith. Hindus were forced to say their names, show ID cards, recite Kalma and even pull down their pants to show proof of ‘circumcision.’ Attempts are made to brush this ‘religious profiling’ of the victims under the carpet. The Quint did not cite any apology for amplifying the fake news shared by Ishan Saxena and quietly deleted their story. Upon further investigation, it emerged that Ishan Saxena had been an ex-employee of CashKaro. No sooner, CashKaro issued a statement clarifying its disassociation with Ishan Saxena since February 2025. Later, Saxena contacted OpIndia, claiming that he had merely copied the post from another LinkedIn user whose name he could not recall. He admitted that he had not verified the information, acknowledged that the incident might be fabricated, and confirmed that the Bengaluru police had interrogated him, instructing him to refrain from sharing unverified, communally sensitive posts.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Hate Speech against Hindus. The sub-category selected is- Anti Hindu subversion and prejudice, and within it, the tertiary category selected is- Anti-Hindu Fake News or Downplaying. 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. Media plays a specific and overarching reach in perpetuating prejudicial attitudes towards a community owing to unfair, untrue coverage and/or misrepresentation/misinterpretation, selective coverage and/or omission of facts of/pertaining to issues affecting a specific religious group. This type of bias can dehumanise the victim group, making it easier for others to justify harmful actions against them, which aligns with the objectives of hate speech laws aimed at preventing such harm. It is often observed that the media takes a prejudicial stand against the Hindu community driven by their need to shield the aggressor community which happens to be a numeric minority, however, is the one perpetrating violence against Hindus. For example, the media is often quick to contextualise religiously motivated crimes against Hindus, omit or misrepresent facts that point towards religiously motivated hate crimes, justify and/or downplay religiously motivated hate crimes or simply present fake news to stereotype Hindus. Such media bias leads to the denial of persecution and is often used to dehumanise Hindus, leading to justification for violence against them. For example, the media covered several fake allegations of Hindus targeting Muslims and forcing them to chant Jai Shree Ram. Most of these cases were proved false and fabricated after police investigation. These fake news reports were subsequently never retracted or clarified. Such fake news led to the justification of violence and dehumanisation of Hindus based on the argument that since Hindus targeted Muslims and forced them to chant Jai Shree Ram, the dehumanisation of Hindus and violence against them was par for the course and merely a retaliation. Such media bias leads to prejudicial portrayal of Hindus and offers a justification for violence against them and therefore, is considered hate speech under this category. This case has been classified as a hate crime because it involved the deliberate spreading of a false and harmful story that unfairly portrayed Hindus as violent aggressors, without a shred of evidence. It came at a time when the nation was already mourning after the brutal Pahalgam terror attack where 24 Hindus were killed by Islamic terrorists for the virtue of their Faith. It may be recalled that Islamic terrorists, before killing Hindus at point blank, forced them to say their names, show ID cards, recite Kalma and even pull down their pants to show proof of ‘circumcision.’ Despite this information being there on the public platform, such a fabricated allegation unfairly maligns the Hindu community. Instead of focusing on the real tragedy where innocent Hindus were targeted based on their religious identity, the false narrative shifted attention. Stories like these do not just spread misinformation, they create stereotypes that make it easier to excuse hatred and discrimination against Hindus. The media not only chose to amplify this baseless story without any effort at verification but also, by selectively promoting fake news while ignoring the real suffering of Hindus, helped to cement an unfair and hostile image of the community. The intention behind such irresponsible reporting could only have been to provoke Hindus and display contempt toward their faith. This incident reflects a broader pattern of deep-seated hostility toward Hinduism, often disguised as journalistic freedom or freedom of speech, but actually driven by deliberate animosity against Hindus and their beliefs. Furthermore, even after the story was exposed as false, no apology or correction was issued. Therefore, the spread of this fabricated narrative clearly falls under hate speech. Given that such reckless behaviour stems from profound disdain for the Hindu religion, this case rightly deserves to be documented in the hate tracker.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Others
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
