Hindus threatened: Muslim man celebrates Pahalgam massacre, calls for demolition of Temples
Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India 
26 April, 2025
Case Summary
In a horrific act of terror in the Baisaran Valley of Pahalgam, Anantnag district, Jammu and Kashmir, Islamic terrorists systematically identified and targeted Hindu victims. The terrorists demanded names and religious identities, inspected ID cards, coerced tourists to recite the Kalma, and even forcibly pulled down their pants to check for circumcision—all to single out non-Muslims. Once identified, the Hindus were shot at point-blank range. The attack, carried out by operatives of The Resistance Force, a proxy of the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed the lives of 24 Hindus and left 16 others critically injured. Following this incident, Uttarakhand Police arrested a man from Dehradun who expressed support for the Islamic terrorist attack. The accused, Sahil Khan, openly celebrated the massacre of Hindus and issued threats of further such attacks in future. The incident came to light when a social media post surfaced regarding bulldozer action in response to the Pahalgam attack. Sahil Khan made abusive and inflammatory comments under the post, mocking the deaths of the victims by writing, "Only 28 people have been killed so far, you are all worried about this.". He went further to threaten the demolition of Hindu temples, stating, "The temple at Dharampur Square is also pricking our eyes. We will demolish it." Following his comments going viral, local residents in Dehradun apprehended Sahil Khan and subjected him to a public beating. He was handed over to the police. On the instructions of Senior Superintendent of Police Ajay Singh, the police initiated legal proceedings against Sahil Khan, who worked as an auto driver.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case is categorised under the primary category- Hate Speech against Hindus. Under that, the relevant sub-category is- Denial or mocking of genocide/large-scale persecution. Denial or mocking of genocide/large-scale persecution/ethnic cleansing refers to the act of denying or minimizing the fact of the ethnic cleansing and/or genocide and/or religious persecution of Hindus. This often involves denying the scale, mechanisms, religious intent, or even the occurrence of the ethnic cleansing and/or genocide and/or religious persecution of Hindus. Hate speech of this kind involves the dissemination of falsehoods that deny or distort established historical facts or mock the suffering of Hindus by saying that they deserved the persecution, motivated by Hinduphobia. Denying such atrocities is not only about the denial of facts or rewriting/revising history, but it also delegitimises the religiously motivated persecution of Hindus, the religious hate/motivation/animosity that led to the persecution, and dehumanises Hindus as a religious group. Such denial of ethnic cleansing and/or genocide and/or religious persecution of Hindus not only denies the suffering but also paves the way for future/present atrocities and hate speech, inciting prejudice and violence against Hindus. It also provides a justification for violence by delinking religious animosity from religiously motivated crimes committed against Hindus. Since such denial and/or mocking of genocide/ethnic cleansing/atrocities motivated by religious animosity leads to present and future ramifications of creating more hate speech, violence, dehumanisation and delegitimisation, it would be considered hate speech under this category. The other sub-category relevant 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. This case is a clear example of a hate crime. It involves not just support for violence against Hindus, but also direct threats to their places of worship. By mocking the massacre of Hindus in Pahalgam and minimising their suffering, Sahil Khan showed hostility toward Hindus and tried to make such violence seem acceptable. His threat to demolish Hindu temples further aimed to create fear and insecurity among Hindus. Acts like these are meant to intimidate and dehumanise people based on their religious identity. Publicly celebrating mass murder and threatening religious sites spreads fear and weakens trust in society. Such behaviour fits the definition of a hate crime, as it targets people because of who they are and seeks to harm both individuals and the wider community.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
