Elderly Muslim man humiliated at Hindu nationalist rally in India
Viral footage showing man’s skullcap being snatched in Uttar Pradesh sparks outrage over growing public targeting of Muslims over religious identity
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — An elderly Muslim man was publicly humiliated after a man allegedly associated with a Hindu nationalist group snatched his skullcap during a rally in India’s Uttar Pradesh state, triggering outrage over the targeting of Muslims in public spaces.
The incident came to light after footage circulated widely on social media showing the elderly man among participants at a procession in Marhera in Etah district when another man approached him and removed the skullcap from his head.
The procession was organized to commemorate the birth anniversary of Rani Avanti Bai Lodhi, a 19th-century ruler who fought against British colonial forces during the 1857 uprising.
According to local reports, the man who snatched the cap was associated with a Hindutva group, although his identity and organizational affiliation could not be independently verified. The incident occurred on Aug. 30.
Footage prompted widespread criticism on social media, with users accusing the man of deliberately targeting and humiliating the elderly Muslim because of his visible religious identity.
“What is going on in the country? Is this how elders are respected?” one user wrote on X, describing the incident as “extremely shameful.”
Another wrote that Muslims were being treated in a manner where “even a person’s age is disregarded, and basic dignity and humanity are ignored.”
Police moved against the alleged perpetrators after the outrage on social media. Officers identified and arrested six men — Ramvakil, Sachin, Durgesh, Vipin, Yogesh and Rinku — over their alleged involvement in the procession. Local reports said police action came about two days after the incident, despite officers having been deployed along the procession route.
The episode is the latest in a series of incidents in India in which Muslims have been harassed, assaulted or forced to demonstrate allegiance to Hindu religious symbols and slogans.
Such incidents have become increasingly visible amid the political ascendancy of Hindutva, the Hindu majoritarian ideology championed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and a network of Hindu nationalist organizations seeking to define India primarily through its Hindu identity.
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