Fake Hindu identity used to post ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans on social media by Muslim youth
Murshidabad, West Bengal, India 
10 May, 2025
Case Summary
In Murshidabad, West Bengal, two hawkers were arrested on charges of supporting Pakistan. Imran Sheikh and another youth raised pro-Pakistan slogans and made anti-India remarks on social media. According to the police, a Facebook profile was created under a Hindu name, "Acharjee Mithun," through which such offensive posts were shared. The name of the main perpetrator is Imran Sheikh. He is a resident of Raghunathganj Chandpada, Murshidabad. He, along with his other companion, came to Barjora. Both worked as hawkers. After the Pahalgam terrorist attack and India's response to the attack in the form of 'Operation Sindoor', Imran posted multiple anti-India and pro-Pakistan remarks on social media. Upon learning about the incident, BJP workers apprehended both accused from Bankura district. Imran Sheikh and his associate were made to stand on a Pakistani flag. During this, they were forced to chant slogans like “Hindustan Zindabad” (Long live India) and “Pakistan Murdabad” (Down with Pakistan). Both the accused also held their ears and did sit-ups as a gesture of apology. After this, BJP workers handed them over to the Barjora police. The police registered a case against Imran Sheikh and his associate under relevant sections. India carried out ‘Operation Sindoor’ on May 7, 2025, destroying nine terrorist camps in Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. The Pahalgam Hindu massacre was a deadly Islamic terrorist attack that took place on April 22, 2025, in the Pahalgam region of Jammu and Kashmir, where Islamic terrorists specifically targeted Hindu tourists, asking their religion before executing them. India strongly condemned this act of Islamic terrorism, particularly emphasising the brutality of targeting people solely based on their religious identity. The military operation was a firm retaliation aimed at dismantling the terror camps in Pakistan harbouring and training Islamic terrorists responsible for the Pahalgam Hindu massacre.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker un the primary category of - Hate speech against Hindus. The sub-category selected here 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. In this case, two Muslim men raised pro-Pakistan slogans and made anti-India remarks on social media. Here, one could argue that the slogan of Pakistan Zindabad can be considered anti-India and pro-Pakistan, but not anti-Hindu. However, raising slogans such as Pakistan Zindabad not only show pro-Pakistan sentiments, but also anti-Hindu sentiments. It is pertinent to note that Muslim extremists harbour specific animosity towards Hindus and their faith and also view India as a Hindu collectivity. The very basis of the partition of India was that the Muslims believed that Islam was a nation unto itself, which could not survive with a Hindu collectivity like India. Further, Muslims often believe in transnational unity - or the Ummah - which is a belief that all Muslims across the world are a nation unto themselves and therefore, loyalty as far as the nation-state is concerned lies with the Muslim collectivity and not with a Hindu collectivity like India. This would also mean that the slogan Pakistan Zindabad is about hailing a Muslim collectivity and an expression of transnational loyalty and anti-Hindu sentiments. For that reason, any slogan which expresses transnational loyalty, faith in the Ummah, is automatically a slogan against Hindus and the Hindu collectivity. Also, the creation of a fake profile with a Hindu name to post pro-Pakistan and anti-India content further points out the insidious motive. The accused deliberately created a fake Hindu identity on social media to post pro-Pakistan slogans, thereby attempting to falsely implicate and malign the Hindu community. Thus, this case is added to the hate crime database.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
