Hindu extremists force Muslim vendors out of market in India
Viral video shows right-wing mobs expelling Muslim hawkers in Gujarat, fueling fears of organized economic persecution under rising Hindu nationalism
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — A viral video has captured Hindu supremacist groups violently expelling poor Muslim street vendors from a marketplace in the western Indian state of Gujarat, intensifying alarm over systematic efforts to erase Muslims from public and economic spaces under rising majoritarian rule.
The footage, filmed in the Sabarmati area of Ahmedabad, shows members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and its militant youth wing Bajrang Dal surrounding Muslim hawkers and ordering them to leave “because Muslims are not welcome here.”
One vendor, identifiable by his skullcap and beard, is seen silently packing his utensils as the mob records itself taunting, threatening and shaming him — with absolute confidence that no police action will follow.
Witnesses said the men commanded the hawkers never to return, insisting Muslims had “no place” in the market. Local residents present during the confrontation described the scene as economic terror, designed to humiliate and dispossess working-class Muslims who depend on street vending for survival.
Muslims in the area say the attack is part of a wider pattern of organized apartheid, where livelihoods are being weaponized to socially and financially suffocate them. Many expressed fear that basic constitutional guarantees — such as Article 19(1)(g), which protects the right to trade and work anywhere in India — exist only on paper.
Online outrage erupted after the video circulated widely across India, with social media users demanding police action and accusing authorities of enabling Hindutva mobs through silence and inaction. The attackers’ willingness to film themselves, residents say, reveals deep confidence in state complicity and impunity.
Human-rights groups warn that similar campaigns have targeted Muslim vendors nationwide through boycotts, evictions, beatings and business bans, turning everyday work into a battlefield of identity.
They argue that the goal is clear: push Muslims out of public spaces, isolate them economically, and make survival itself a struggle.
Rights observers say the incident exposes a deliberate architecture of persecution, where Hindu supremacist organizations operate openly while institutions responsible for upholding law appear paralyzed or complicit.
The absence of arrests or public condemnation from officials has intensified accusations that state silence functions as approval, emboldening mobs who now dictate who may work, where they may stand, and whether their existence is permissible.
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