Hindu extremists harass Kashmiri Muslim worker in India
Pilgrims repeatedly pressured Muslim pony worker to chant “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” to intimidate him
SRINAGAR, Kashmir (MNTV) — A Kashmiri Muslim man working along a Hindu pilgrimage route in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir was harassed and repeatedly pressured to chant a Hindu nationalist slogan by a group that reportedly included members of Hindu extremist organizations.
Videos widely circulated on social media Sunday show the pony worker being confronted by pilgrims and told to chant “Bharat Mata Ki Jai,” or “Long Live Mother India,” a slogan that has increasingly become associated with Hindu nationalist assertions of patriotism in India.
According to local media reports, the group included Nakul Chaudhary, identified as a worker of the Hindu supremacist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, and a divisional organizational secretary of the Bajrang Dal, a militant Hindu nationalist organization.
“I am a Muslim. I cannot say it,” the worker tells the group in Hindi after refusing their demand.
One man then challenges him over his refusal, asking whether Muslims would not say “Bharat Mata Ki Jai.”
A police officer deployed for pilgrimage duty is seen attempting to defuse the confrontation. Another pilgrim urges the group to focus on the purpose for which they had undertaken the pilgrimage.
“To say ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai,’” members of the group respond.
A second video shows the same men confronting the Muslim worker again and linking his livelihood to his willingness to repeat the slogan.
“He is making money from Hindus, yet he is afraid to say ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’?” one of them is heard saying.
The worker repeatedly asks the men to allow him to continue his work but refuses to chant the slogan.
The confrontation occurred during pilgrimages to the Baba Budha Amarnath temple in Poonch and the Shiv Khori cave shrine in Reasi, two major Hindu religious sites in the Jammu region.
The incident is particularly striking because Hindu pilgrimages across the disputed Kashmir region have long depended heavily on local Muslim workers. Muslims work as pony operators, porters, drivers, guides and shopkeepers, helping pilgrims navigate mountainous routes and providing an important logistical backbone to the annual religious journeys.
Such cooperation has historically been presented as an expression of “Kashmiriyat,” a term describing Kashmir’s syncretic traditions and coexistence between religious communities. The pilgrimage season is also an important source of income for thousands of local families.
There is no requirement under Indian law for citizens to chant “Bharat Mata Ki Jai.” India’s Supreme Court has also upheld constitutional protections against compelling people to participate in patriotic expressions that conflict with sincerely held religious beliefs.
The confrontation comes amid repeated incidents across India in which Muslims have been assaulted, threatened or humiliated and forced to chant nationalist slogans or Hindu religious expressions such as “Jai Shri Ram.”
Such slogans have increasingly moved beyond expressions of religious faith or patriotism in some contexts and become tools for testing the loyalty of Muslims and other minorities, with refusal oftentimes triggering harassment or violence.
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