Muhammad Deepak: A Symbol of Defiance Against Hindutva’s Hate Politics |
The Pulse | Politics | South Asia
Muhammad Deepak: A Symbol of Defiance Against Hindutva’s Hate Politics
When a mob of Hindutva goons descended on a Muslim shopkeeper, a young gym owner stepped forward to defend him.
Communist parliamentarian John Brittas (right) with gym owner “Mohammad Deepak,” who stood up on Jan. 26, 2026, to Hindutva goons in Kotdwar, India.
In a climate of normalized hate politics, the brave act of a Hindu gym owner, Deepak Kumar, has become a powerful symbol of public resistance against rising communalism in India.
Deepak has now become famous as “Muhammad Deepak,” the name he used while standing up in support of a 70-year-old Muslim shopkeeper who was being heckled by a mob of right-wing Bajrang Dal goons in Kotdwar, a town in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. The Bajrang Dal is a fraternal organization of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been in power in Uttarakhand for close to a decade now.
It is indeed ironic that the ugly incident happened on January 26, the day that India celebrates annually as Republic Day, when its constitution, which emphasizes the values of secularism and pluralism, was adopted in 1950.
That day, Bajrang Dal goons threatened a shopkeeper, Wakeel Ahmed, and demanded that he change the name of his shop, Baba Dresses. According to them, the name “Baba” is a prerogative of Hindus as it refers to “Siddhabali Baba” — a local temple dedicated to the Hindu god Hanuman. Ahmed’s shop has been selling school uniforms in Kotdwar for 30 years.
While Ahmed pleaded with them, and a crowd of bystanders watched silently, 42-year-old Deepak stepped forward and confronted the mob alone. When the Bajrang Dal goons demanded to know Deepak’s identity, the latter, on the spur of the moment, answered, “Muhammad Deepak,” in a defiant act of solidarity with the elderly Muslim shopkeeper. Deepak is a Hindu name, while Muhammad is a Muslim one.
Someone in the crowd recorded the incident, and the video went viral on social media.
Deepak said that he was angry at how the mob was targeting an old man because of his religion and because he was a Muslim. “I wanted to show them we are all one,” he said subsequently. In a short video, Deepak has said: “I am not a Hindu, I am not a Muslim, I am not a Sikh, I am not a Christian. First and foremost, I am a human being.” This post has received five million likes on Instagram.
Deepak was successful in stalling the Hindutva goons that day. However, he soon faced a backlash from the Bajrang Dal members, who laid siege to his gym, raised slogans and issued death threats. Incidentally, the police were silent bystanders. Deepak and his family were harassed and threatened by the Bajrang Delhi goons; his child was forced to leave school. Deepak hails from an ordinary working-class background; his mother runs a tea stall. Three complaints were filed with the police, of which two are against the Hindutva mob. The third was a complaint registered with the police against Deepak by a Hindutva activist for alleged assault and intimidation. In BJP-ruled states, the state government and law enforcement agencies have been tacit supporters of the hate politics and violence unleashed by Hindutva groups.
Ever since the Narendra Modi-led BJP came to power in 2014, the party, backed by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), has unleashed its policy of Islamophobia and communal polarization with an eye on the majoritarian vote bank, and accused the opposition of “appeasing” India’s religious minorities when they speak out on their behalf.
With the video going viral and the national media carrying reports of Deepak’s action, many hailed Deepak as a hero. However, it also resulted in locals staying away from his gym — his sole source of income. The number of enrolled members in his gym dropped drastically from 150 to 15 within days, and he began facing financial difficulties and could not pay the rent.
A section of social media, including users of X and Instagram, rallied around him, and before long, #IStandWithMuhammadDeepak started trending. Opposition parliamentarians like John Brittas of the Communist Party of India-Marxist visited Deepak in Kotdwar and hailed him as a “beacon of hope” in the “struggle against Hindutva communalism.” Brittas took membership in Deepak’s gym and encouraged the public to do as well. Fifteen Supreme Court advocates from New Delhi also chipped in and bought annual memberships to help him.
Earlier this week, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi invited Deepak to meet in New Delhi. Gandhi described him as the symbol of his long march, the “Bharat Jodo yatra,” the goal of which was to replace the hate political discourse of the Hindutva organizations with that of brotherhood and love. Gandhi assured him of his full support and hailed Deepak’s fight for “protecting the Constitution and humanity.”
What makes Deepak’s act of solidarity so unique is that he is a devout Hindu and not an atheist. He worships Hanuman and proudly displays Hanuman posters on the walls of his gym. Through his act of humanity, Deepak has voiced the view of millions of Hindus who oppose the Hindu supremacist and hate politics of Hindutva organizations.
Deepak has shown that it is possible to stand up against Hindutva bullies. Nationally, he’s become a role model of how ordinary middle-class people can stem the tide of saffron majoritarianism if they decide to confront it head-on.
Will Deepak’s act of defiance be a catalyst to encourage other Hindus to resist Hindutva goons and their violence?
In a recent incident at Lucknow University, students formed a human chain to enable their Muslim classmates to do namaz (Muslim prayers), after the University authorities purportedly sealed the ancient mosque on the university campus to prevent Muslim students from offering prayers during Ramadan. Such acts hark back to a pluralist India of the past. Hopefully, positive change is not too far away.
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In a climate of normalized hate politics, the brave act of a Hindu gym owner, Deepak Kumar, has become a powerful symbol of public resistance against rising communalism in India.
Deepak has now become famous as “Muhammad Deepak,” the name he used while standing up in support of a 70-year-old Muslim shopkeeper who was being heckled by a mob of right-wing Bajrang Dal goons in Kotdwar, a town in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. The Bajrang Dal is a fraternal organization of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been in power in Uttarakhand for close to a decade now.
It is indeed ironic that the ugly incident happened on January 26, the day that India celebrates annually as Republic Day, when its constitution, which emphasizes the values of secularism and pluralism, was adopted in 1950.
That day, Bajrang Dal goons threatened a shopkeeper, Wakeel Ahmed, and demanded that he change the name of his shop, Baba Dresses. According to them, the name “Baba” is a prerogative of Hindus as it refers to “Siddhabali Baba” — a local temple dedicated to the Hindu god Hanuman. Ahmed’s shop has been selling school uniforms in Kotdwar for 30 years.
While Ahmed pleaded with them, and a crowd of bystanders watched silently, 42-year-old Deepak stepped forward and confronted the mob alone. When the Bajrang Dal goons demanded to know Deepak’s identity, the latter, on the spur of the moment, answered, “Muhammad Deepak,” in a defiant act of solidarity with the elderly Muslim shopkeeper. Deepak is a Hindu name, while Muhammad is a Muslim one.
Someone in the crowd recorded the incident, and the video went viral on social media.
Deepak said that he was angry at how the mob was targeting an old man because of his religion and because he was a Muslim. “I wanted to show them we are all one,” he said subsequently. In a short video, Deepak has said: “I am not a Hindu, I am not a Muslim, I am not a Sikh, I am not a Christian. First and foremost, I am a human being.” This post has received five million likes on Instagram.
Deepak was successful in stalling the Hindutva goons that day. However, he soon faced a backlash from the Bajrang Dal members, who laid siege to his gym, raised slogans and issued death threats. Incidentally, the police were silent bystanders. Deepak and his family were harassed and threatened by the Bajrang Delhi goons; his child was forced to leave school. Deepak hails from an ordinary working-class background; his mother runs a tea stall. Three complaints were filed with the police, of which two are against the Hindutva mob. The third was a complaint registered with the police against Deepak by a Hindutva activist for alleged assault and intimidation. In BJP-ruled states, the state government and law enforcement agencies have been tacit supporters of the hate politics and violence unleashed by Hindutva groups.
Ever since the Narendra Modi-led BJP came to power in 2014, the party, backed by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), has unleashed its policy of Islamophobia and communal polarization with an eye on the majoritarian vote bank, and accused the opposition of “appeasing” India’s religious minorities when they speak out on their behalf.
With the video going viral and the national media carrying reports of Deepak’s action, many hailed Deepak as a hero. However, it also resulted in locals staying away from his gym — his sole source of income. The number of enrolled members in his gym dropped drastically from 150 to 15 within days, and he began facing financial difficulties and could not pay the rent.
A section of social media, including users of X and Instagram, rallied around him, and before long, #IStandWithMuhammadDeepak started trending. Opposition parliamentarians like John Brittas of the Communist Party of India-Marxist visited Deepak in Kotdwar and hailed him as a “beacon of hope” in the “struggle against Hindutva communalism.” Brittas took membership in Deepak’s gym and encouraged the public to do as well. Fifteen Supreme Court advocates from New Delhi also chipped in and bought annual memberships to help him.
Earlier this week, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi invited Deepak to meet in New Delhi. Gandhi described him as the symbol of his long march, the “Bharat Jodo yatra,” the goal of which was to replace the hate political discourse of the Hindutva organizations with that of brotherhood and love. Gandhi assured him of his full support and hailed Deepak’s fight for “protecting the Constitution and humanity.”
What makes Deepak’s act of solidarity so unique is that he is a devout Hindu and not an atheist. He worships Hanuman and proudly displays Hanuman posters on the walls of his gym. Through his act of humanity, Deepak has voiced the view of millions of Hindus who oppose the Hindu supremacist and hate politics of Hindutva organizations.
Deepak has shown that it is possible to stand up against Hindutva bullies. Nationally, he’s become a role model of how ordinary middle-class people can stem the tide of saffron majoritarianism if they decide to confront it head-on.
Will Deepak’s act of defiance be a catalyst to encourage other Hindus to resist Hindutva goons and their violence?
In a recent incident at Lucknow University, students formed a human chain to enable their Muslim classmates to do namaz (Muslim prayers), after the University authorities purportedly sealed the ancient mosque on the university campus to prevent Muslim students from offering prayers during Ramadan. Such acts hark back to a pluralist India of the past. Hopefully, positive change is not too far away.
Kavita Chowdhury is an independent journalist and writes on development, politics, gender, culture.
Violence against Hindus