Elderly Muslim cab driver forced to chant Hindu slogan in India

NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — A 64-year-old Muslim cab driver was harassed and forced to chant a Hindu religious slogan by a group of young men near the Taj Mahal in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, according to a viral video that has triggered widespread condemnation and renewed concern over rising Islamophobic intimidation in India.

The video shows the driver, Raees, visibly distressed as the men repeatedly pressure him to chant “Jai Shri Ram” — a slogan that has evolved from a religious invocation into a war cry of Hindu nationalist mobs, widely associated with lynchings, hate crimes, and coercive public humiliation of Muslims across India. 

Human-rights groups say the phrase is now used as a tool of domination and intimidation, forcing Muslims to publicly submit to majoritarian power.

When Raees refuses, one of the men filming — identified online as Rohit — tells him: “You will say it in two or three days.” Social media users described the video as a disturbing act of humiliation targeting an elderly worker who earns his living driving tourists to the Taj Mahal.

The incident occurred the same day Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ayodhya to hoist a saffron flag at the newly built Ram Temple, constructed on the site where the Babri Mosque was demolished in 1992, a moment widely viewed as a turning point in India’s militant Hindu nationalism.

Agra Police acknowledged the video after it was flagged by a local journalist, stating in a post on their official social media channels that the Tajganj police station and Cyber Cell had been instructed to take “necessary action.”

Human-rights researchers note that coerced chanting of “Jai Shri Ram” has become part of a growing pattern of public harassment, mob violence and majoritarian signalling, disproportionately targeting Muslims, street vendors, laborers and other vulnerable groups.

Documented cases across India show individuals forced to chant the slogan before being assaulted, humiliated or filmed for circulation on social media.

Analysts say the incident reflects the normalization of hate-driven vigilantism in India, warning that the lack of accountability deepens fear among the country’s 200 million Muslims, further eroding democratic protections and pluralism.

The episode has prompted renewed demands for police action and stronger legal safeguards against religious harassment.