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Amidst outrage over Muslims doing Iftar and throwing bones in Ganga, TheWire attempts to secularise the sacred river for the old objective of shielding Islamists

Shraddha Pandey
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Amidst outrage over Muslims doing Iftar and throwing bones in Ganga, TheWire attempts to secularise the sacred river for the old objective of shielding Islamists

From Tarun Kumar’s lynching by a Muslim mob in Delhi’s Uttam Nagar over Holi colours spilling over a Muslim woman to Muslim youths doing ‘Iftar’ with Chicken Biryani on the Ganga River in Varanasi and throwing chewed bones into its sacred waters, the Islamo-leftist coterie invokes syncretic cultural references, ‘Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb’, and whatnot to shield Islamist attacks and mockery against Hindus. Amidst outrage over Muslims throwing bones in the sacred waters of the Ganga, Islamo-leftist outlet The Wire, notorious for giving a Muslim victimhood spin to anti-Hindu crimes, has attempted to ‘secularise’ the Ganga River.

In an opinion piece titled, “Who Owns the Ganga? A River of Many Faiths, Not One“, a Delhi-based writer, translator and researcher, Rakhshanda Jalil, offers family memories, Urdu poetry, and a dash of melodrama to establish a narrative that Ganga is a ‘secular’ river not owned only by Hindus, ironically, by saying that she belongs to many faiths.

Jalil opens the piece with an affectionate memory of her husband introducing her to the Ganga River in his ancestral lands in eastern Uttar Pradesh with the folk song: Ganga maiya tohre piyari chadhaibo… (O Mother Ganga, I offer this yellow dhoti to you…).

While the sentiment is beautiful and Rakshanda’s husband is free to express his admiration for the sacred river through the Bhojpuri song, the act of a Muslim man calling the Ganga River “Maiya” or mother is essentially un-Islamic.

Rakhshanda Jalil soft-peddles the trigger, lamenting that now FIRs are being registered against 14 Muslim men “for taking a boat out on the river and opening their fast on the Ganga; they are being accused of hurting the sentiments of the majority community.”

The usage of the term “majority community” here is essentially to push a subtle insinuation that the lodging of FIR against Muslim men for hurting Hindu religious sentiments is a case of arbitrary Hindu majoritarianism.

What Jalil skipped mentioning is that the Muslim youths have not been booked for taking out a boat on the Ganga River or opening their Roza during Ramzan. The accused Muslims were eating non-vegetarian food in the holy Ganges River, and they even threw the chewed bones into the sacred waters of Mother Ganga right in front of the Bindu Madhav Dharhara Temple.

She also did not highlight the fact that even Muslim clerics have said that, contrary to the picnic the accused Muslim youths were having, Iftar is a purely religious event, with Maghrib namaz to be performed.

“But what of their sentiments? And that of their forefathers? What of those people, such as my husband’s family, who have lived beside the Ganga for generations and have nothing but the greatest affection and regard for this special river that has nurtured civilisation for millennia? In the New India that is Bharat we have already divided up colours (saffron is Hindu, green is Muslim), food (sattvic vs halal), etc, are we also going to decide who has first rights over rivers and mountains?” Jalil asks in the article published on 19th March 2026.

The author deliberately avoided addressing the “hurting of the sentiments of the majority community” part properly, perhaps considering the sentiments of Hindus insignificant. Jalil proceeded directly towards doing what The Wire does best: giving a Muslim victimhood spin to incidents where Hindus are the victims and Muslims are the aggressors.

She asks: “But what of their sentiments? And that of their forefathers? What of those people, such as my husband’s family, who have lived beside the Ganga for generations and have nothing but the greatest affection and regard for this special river that has nurtured civilisation for millennia? In the New India that is Bharat we have already divided up colours (saffron is Hindu, green is Muslim), food (sattvic vs halal), etc; are we also going to decide who has first rights over rivers and mountains?”

How conveniently, The Wire flipped the aggressor-aggrieved dynamic, making Muslim sentiments a bigger issue in an incident wherein it is Muslims who have hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus.

A river, believed to be sacred by one and not by others, does not discriminate and nurtures all living beings it touches. However, Muslims’ regard and affection for the Ganga River is not the same as Hindus’ worshipping the river as holy, a mother, and a living deity (Devi).

If Hindus actually asserted exclusive ownership over the Ganga River, weaponising their religious sentiments, they would have demanded barring Muslims from accessing the river completely. The access to Ganga is universal, but deliberate defiling and mockery of its sanctity is not.

Also, this assertion that in the New India, by which the Islamo-leftists usually mean Modi’s India or India after 2014, has become divided into saffron is Hindu, green is Muslim, and sattvic vs halal, is dishonest. These divisions have existed for decades and shall continue to exist. India’s bloody partition was done because of the green’s intolerance of the saffron. Even after enduring the stab of partition, saffron tolerated and accommodated green, even at the cost of ceding its own rights to uphold the farce of ‘Hindu-Muslim unity’. All was hunky dory till the ‘minority’ was dominating and intimidating the majority. The society became divisive only when saffron began to pushback green’s intransigence, and sattvic resisted halal’s dominance.

One wonders if The Wire would defend Hindus if they ate pork inside a mosque complex and left its remnants there during the ‘holy’ month of Ramzan?

There is a glaring hypocrisy in this “river belongs to all faiths” narrative. This supposed ‘universalism’ is never extended in the reverse direction. Muslims maintain exclusivity of their religious sites, food choices, and lifestyle, even in localities where the Muslim community is in the majority, calling for boycott or Sar Tan Se Juda of those who supposedly hurt their religious sentiments. But Hindus are lectured to share their living deity, only for meat bones to be hurled in her sacred waters in a deliberate ‘picnic’ style. This is nothing but a blatant dilution of sacred Hindu geography and its unasked opening for reinterpretation in the name of composite culture, secularism and whatnot, all while Islamic exclusivity remains non-negotiable and sacrosanct to scrutiny.

Jalil asks if we are also going to decide who has first rights over rivers and mountains. She should ask this question to her co-religionists first. From Waqf Boards laying illegal claims over Hindu villages and temples, to Islamists in Tamil Nadu, who claim the ownership of the Thiruparankundram Hills and seek its renaming, even as the entire hill historically belonged to the Hindu temple there.

The author suggested that, amidst the controversy over Muslim youth doing an Iftar party and throwing bones in the sacred waters of the Ganga, it would be appropriate to revisit Urdu poetry written on the Ganga by Muslim poets.

Jalil could not find a better poet than Muhammad Iqbal to contend that since Muslims wrote Urdu poetry on the Ganga River, the river belongs to them as well.

“And the perfect place to start might be the vast ouvre of Iqbal, the poet we are constantly being taught to hate: the much-despised Muhammad Iqbal. Writing his Tarana-e-Hind (The Song of India) in 1904 as a patriotic song for children that went on to become one of the most popular songs for school choruses till its political baggage was discovered and it was promptly discarded, Iqbal begins with ‘Saare jahan se achha Hindostan hamara’ (Our India is the fairest in the entire world)…” Jalil writes.

Notice the subtle nuance in Jalil’s description of Muhammad Iqbal: “the poet we are constantly being taught to hate: the much-despised Muhammad Iqbal.”

Despite Iqbal deserving all the abhorrence he gets from Indian people aware of his literary, political, and Islamist activities, beyond ‘Saare jahan se acha’, nobody is being constantly taught to hate him. Ensuring that the Indian youth know who all were responsible for propagating the idea of Pakistan’s creation on Islamic lines is not the same as peddling hate.

Muhammad Iqbal was one of the main proponents of the two-nation theory that led to the creation of Pakistan in the first half of the 20th century. The famous composition ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha’ was published in 1904 by Muhammad Iqbal, a year before the Partition of Bengal in British India. The most famous lines of the composition, which form its sixth stanza, say, “Maẕhab nahīṉ sikhātā āpas meṉ bair rakhnā, Hindī haiṉ ham, wat̤an hai Hindositāṉ hamārā”.

In Independent India, liberals and Islamists masquerading as secularists have reduced Iqbal’s legacy to these two lines, ignoring almost entirely his contribution to the formation of Pakistan. 

In Tarana-e-Milli, which the poet wrote in 1910 for children, Iqbal revealed his real Islamic fundamentalist nature. It was composed in the same meter and rhyme scheme as ‘Sare Jahaan Se Achcha’, contradicting the thought of unity with the call for division based on religion. The first stanza of this particular composition contrasted sharply with the sixth stanza of his prior composition. It said, “Cīn o-ʿArab hamārā, Hindūstāṉ hamārā, Muslim haiṉ ham, wat̤an hai sārā jahāṉ hamārā. tauhīd kī amānat sīnoñ meñ hai hamāre, āsāñ nahīñ miTānā nām-o-nishāñ hamārā.

Moving ahead, Jalil’s article cites poetry by Suroor Barabankvi, Nida Fazli, and Sardar Jafri, among others, wherein these poets appreciated the beauty and purity of the Ganga and admired the landscape as Indians. However, not one piece of poetry she cited revered Ganga as Mother or Devi, the divine, as Hindus do.

For those poets, and Muslims generally, Ganga could be a nurturing water body, a symbol of flowing beauty, and a philosophical metaphor, but never a deity, an object of Islamic worship, prayer or pilgrimage. Islam is alien to the concept of sacred feminine energy, let alone its worship.

Ganga is divine only for Hindus because Islam has no concept of sacred feminine or nature worship. The Urdu poetry Jalil highlights in her article only demonstrates cultural syncretism and not religious ownership of the Ganga.

Ganga is the cradle of the Sanatan Civilisation. The Ganga Valley nurtured Vedic, Puranic, and classical Hindu civilisation for millennia. Be it Varanasi, Gangotri, Haridwar, Prayagraj, or Kolkata’s ghats, they are all defined by Hindu pilgrimage, finding roots in Hindu religious scriptures. Be it medieval Islamic invaders and those they converted to Islam by the force of sword, or the British colonisers, none attached any religious sentimental value to Ganga, while Hindus, since times immemorial have revered and worshipped the sacred river as Maa Ganga, the giver of salvation who descended from the heavens in the matted locks of Mahadev, beautifully described by Maharishi Valmiki in this verse from Ramayana’s Bal Kand:

gaganaat shaMkara shiraH tato dharaNim aagataa || 1-43-15
asarpata jalam tatra tiivra shabda puraskR^itam |

Maa Ganga is believed by Hindus to be the blessing, the reward of royal sage Bhagiratha’s Tapasya. Call it ‘New India’ or ‘Bharat’, this land is rooted in Hindu consciousness. Hindu civilisation will always be the OWNER of Bharat’s lands, rivers, mountains, and every nook and cranny.  

While Muslim poets have described the beauty and serenity of Ganga, Maharishi Valmiki described her origins, her journey and her divinity.

tato haimavatii jyeShThaa sarva loka namaskR^itaa |
tadaa saa ati mahat ruupam kR^itvaa vegam ca duHsaham ||1-43-4
aakaashaat apatat raama shive shiva shirasy uta |

(Afterwards, she who is reverenced by all the worlds and who is the elder daughter of Himavanta, that Ganga, assuming an unendurable form and an insupportable rapidity, they say, then plunged from the sky onto the auspicious head of Shiva.)

acintayaH ca saa devii gaMga parama dur.hdharaa ||1-43-5
vishaami aham hi paataalam strotasaa gR^ihya shaMkaram |

(She who is an extremely unendurable river that goddess Ganga even speculated, saying to herself, ‘let me enter netherworld, indeed whisking Shiva with my streams.)

Maharishi Valmiki describes how the Hladini, Paavani, and Nalini streams of Ganga cruised eastwards, Sucakshu, Seetha, and the river Sindhu streamed to the westward direction, while the seventh stream flowed towards the path of Bhageeratha’s chariot.

From Ramayana to Mahabharat, from Gaumukh to Bay of Bengal, from a nurturer to a giver of salvation, from Kumbh Mela to asthi-visarjan in accordance with Garud Purana, from a water body to a witness of history, Ganga spiritually and culturally belongs to the Sanatan Hindu civilisation that birthed, worshipped, and sustained it for thousands of years. Ganga is not anyone’s property to be legally owned, but alienating her from the historical and civilisational truth to ‘secularise’ the divine river and normalise its desecration by Muslims is unacceptable. There is no equivalence in the supposed poetic love Muslims have for Ganga and the devotion Hindus have. Secularising Ganga amounts to the erasure of its sanctity and divinity.

From killings of Hindus and rapes of minors to wars and riots: 50+ incidents show how peaceful Ramadan 2026 was, fundamentalists did not even spare Muslims

सौम्या सिंह
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From killings of Hindus and rapes of minors to wars and riots: 50+ incidents show how peaceful Ramadan 2026 was, fundamentalists did not even spare Muslims

Ramadan is considered the holiest month in Islam. Muslims claim it is a month of worship, patience, almsgiving (zakat), and, above all, of forgetting rivalries and living in harmony. But here arises the crucial question: why, during this holy month of “peace” and “blessings,” are Muslims found involved in incidents of violence, conflict, and bloodshed?

On one hand, Islamic religious scholars preach that only virtuous deeds should be performed during Ramadan, but on the other hand, social media appears filled with inflammatory rhetoric. During Ramadan 2026, not only Islamic fundamentalists but also Islamic countries disregarded the month. In the 30 days of Ramadan, countless incidents of murder, looting, assault, violence, and rape were reported.

Here, OpIndia presents a list of 50 such incidents during Ramadan, including a young Hindu man’s murder in Delhi by Islamists and the death of 400 people in a hospital in Afghanistan. Read on and decide whether Islamic fundamentalists truly consider Ramadan a month of prayer, patience, and charity.

Middle East: A war-ridden Ramadan and a deepening humanitarian crisis

During the entire period of Ramadan, the situation in the Middle East remained extremely fragile and tense. Particularly, in Iran, the turmoil at the highest levels of power and the ongoing major attacks there have drawn global attention. Fierce military strikes by the United States and Israel have inflicted significant damage on Iran’s strategic locations, further deepening the instability in the country. Surprisingly, even during this month of ‘peace’, violence has intensified rather than diminished.

Within hours of US and Israeli strikes, Iran responded aggressively, launching missile and drone attacks against several countries in the region. This retaliation targeted not only its military rivals but also several Muslim-majority countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, and Kuwait. This wave of war and attacks has created a serious humanitarian crisis in the region during the holy month of Ramadan, where conflict and the struggle for military supremacy have overshadowed the peace of worship.

1. Chaos in Kuwait: Embassy attack and Iran’s ‘Ramadan Offensive’

On March 2, 2026, Kuwait City was jolted when the US Embassy was directly targeted as part of Iran’s so-called “Ramadan Offensive”. The attack involved a coordinated barrage of missiles and lethal drones (UAVs), raining down death from the sky, filling the city’s air with a thick cloud of smoke. Although Kuwait responded swiftly and shot down several drones mid-air, the horrific attack claimed one life and seriously injured 32 others.

Such a direct attack on a country’s diplomatic mission not only blatantly flouts international law but also makes clear that Iran is no longer averse to inciting violence in its Arab neighbours. This military action, carried out during the holy month of peace (Ramadan), has transformed the entire Gulf region into a battlefield.

2. Chaos in Tel Aviv: Iranian ballistic missiles wreak havoc on residential areas

On March 1, 2026, Iran launched massive ballistic missile attacks on Israel, further fueling the regional conflict. Although Israel’s Iron Dome defence system destroyed several missiles mid-air, the sheer force of the attacks caused one missile to penetrate the security perimeter and land directly on the residential area of ​​Beit Shemesh. The massive explosion wreaked havoc, killing nine people on the spot, bringing the total death toll to 12.

The severity of this attack can be gauged from the fact that more than 150 people were injured. The way the missile landed in a residential area clearly indicates that the target was not a military installation but innocent civilians. This violent act, carried out during the holy month of Ramadan, not only shocks human sensibilities but also raises serious questions about Iran’s claims of religious and peaceful values.

3. Fear in Gulf countries: Iran’s missile attack and attack on sovereignty

On February 28, 2026, Iran simultaneously launched missiles against major Gulf cities: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Doha, sending shockwaves throughout the region. This missile blitz targeted not only US military installations but also civilian and residential infrastructure. The magnitude of this attack can be gauged from the fact that one person was killed in Abu Dhabi, while massive explosions were also reported near Dubai landmarks like the Burj Khalifa.

Given the security risks posed by these attacks, airspace across the Middle East had to be immediately closed, halting international flights and causing widespread chaos at Dubai Airport. This incident clearly underscores that in its struggle for regional dominance, Iran is now unwilling to compromise the security and sovereignty of its own Muslim neighbours.

3. War on the Borders: Pakistan-Afghanistan Bloody Clash in Ramadan

Hopes for peace in South Asia during the ‘holy month’ fell apart when tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan escalated into a fierce military confrontation. Pakistani Air Force fighter jets crossed into Afghan territory and launched heavy airstrikes on Kabul, Kandahar, and several other areas. The Afghan Taliban government strongly condemned the attacks, alleging that Pakistan deliberately targeted civilian targets.

The severity of these attacks can be estimated from the fact that even a hospital in Kabul was hit by the Pakistani bombing. According to media reports, nearly 400 people have lost their lives so far in the horrific military aggression, and over 250 have been seriously injured. These attacks on hospitals and residential areas during the holy month of Ramadan have not only deepened the humanitarian crisis but also escalated the bitterness between the two neighbouring Islamic countries.

4. Chaos in Karachi: Pro-Iranian mobs rampage and attack the US consulate

Following the news of Iran’s Supreme Leader’s death, violence erupted in Karachi, Pakistan, plunging the city into chaos. On March 1, 2026, a pro-Iranian mob attempted to attack the US Consulate, leading to a massive outcry. Protesters not only set police checkpoints on fire but also caused significant damage to government and international diplomatic properties.

This wave of violence wasn’t limited to Karachi. In Skardu, a mob also set fire to the United Nations (UN) office. So far, 22 people have lost their lives in these fierce clashes and violent incidents, while more than 120 others have been seriously injured. The violence during the holy month of Ramadan raised serious questions about the internal security and law and order in Pakistan.

5. Pakistani airstrikes on Khost and Paktika in Afghanistan

On February 28, 2026, Pakistan Air Force fighter jets crossed the Afghan border and launched heavy bombing raids on Khost and Paktika provinces. Pakistan described these attacks as actions against terrorist targets, but innocent people paid a heavy price. At least eight civilians, including women and children, were killed in this military operation.

The incident has escalated tensions between the two countries, and the Taliban termed it a direct violation of their sovereignty and launched a counter-offensive. The fighting, which erupted during the holy month of Ramadan, has wreaked havoc in the border areas, forcing thousands of families to flee their homes for their lives.

6. Ramadan begins and mourning on the border: Pakistani military strikes in Nangarhar-Paktika

In the early days of the holy month of Ramadan, as the world hoped for peace, Pakistan escalated tensions by launching another major military operation in the Nangarhar and Paktika provinces of Afghanistan on February 22, 2026. Pakistan described these attacks as a necessary action against terrorism, but the civilian population paid a heavy price for this military operation.

This horrific attack claimed the lives of 17 Afghan civilians, further exacerbating the already bitter tensions between the two neighbouring countries. This bloody incident, occurring during these early days of prayer and prosperity, has shattered all hopes for peace and created an atmosphere of terror in the border areas.

7. Chaos in Karnataka, India: Stones pelted from a mosque on the Shivaji Jayanti procession

A disturbing incident of communal tension happened on February 20, 2026, in Bagalkot, Karnataka, raising serious questions about law and order. A procession commemorating the birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was targeted as it passed in front of the Panka Mosque. It is alleged that fundamentalists present there suddenly began pelting the procession with slippers and stones, causing chaos in the area.

The attackers did not even spare the district’s Superintendent of Police (SP), Siddharth Goyal, who was on duty. He suffered injuries to his head and neck. The blood stains on his uniform testified to the fact that the attackers had neither fear of the administration nor respect for the law. This well-planned attack on a peaceful procession once again presents a worrying picture of growing Islamic extremism and deteriorating social harmony.

8. Tension in Jabalpur: Temple Aarti and fundamentalist attack

An alarming case of Islamic radicalisation emerged from the sensitive Sihora tehsil of Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. On the night of February 19, 2026, while the Hindu community was performing the evening aarti at the Durga temple as per the tradition, it coincided with namaz at the nearby mosque. The peaceful atmosphere suddenly turned tense when a young man allegedly damaged the temple grill. This was not just a loss of property, but a direct attack on the faith and devotion of Hindus.

As residents protested against the act, the Islamist mob turned violent and began heavy stone-pelting. This sudden attack ignited communal tensions in the entire area. The vandalism of the temple complex and the ensuing violence posed a significant challenge to the local administration, clearly the result of a well-planned radicalisation.

9. Tension in Hyderabad: Huge uproar in Amberpet over Shivaji Jayanti slogans

A similar case came to light in Hyderabad’s Amberpet area, where a Shivaji Jayanti procession was targeted. The dispute began when the procession passed by a local mosque, where Islamists strongly objected to the music being played in the procession. The situation quickly escalated into heated arguments and violent scuffles, creating an atmosphere of fear in the area.

It’s often seen that attempts are made to suppress Hindu cultural and religious expression under the pretext of “disrupting prayer,” and the same pattern was evident here. Seeing the situation spiralling out of control, the administration immediately intervened, imposing Section 163, BNSS (a curfew-like restriction) in the area for the next four days. Police arrested eight rioters in connection with the incident.

10. Horrific incident in Mahbubnagar: Attempted mob lynching of a Hindu youth over a social media post

An incident of extremist violence has come to light from Telangana’s Mahbubnagar district. Here, a Hindu youth named Santosh was brutally attacked by a mob of about 20-25 people simply because he had shared a post on social media related to the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This story, posted on March 1, 2026, went viral in local groups and enraged the extremists, who reached Santosh’s shop at around 9 pm and started beating him mercilessly with kicks and punches.

The victim, Santosh, said that the mob tried to crush him to the ground, and if another shopkeeper hadn’t shown courage and pulled him out, he could have lost his life. The attackers were so audacious that they continued to roam near his shop even after midnight, with the intent of attacking him again. Police identified 11 people in this case, nine of whom were arrested, though they were later granted bail.

11. Sensational incident in Bengaluru: Fiancee strangled to death during Ramadan

An incident came to light in Karnataka’s capital, Bengaluru, where 20-year-old Mohammed Sabeel brutally murdered his minor fiancée, Zoya, during the holy month of Ramadan. This horrific incident took place in the DJ Halli area on March 16, 2026, around 6 am. According to the police, despite Zoya being a minor, the two were engaged and were about to get married soon. On the day of the incident, Sabeel had taken Zoya to a relative’s house, where a heated argument broke out between the two over some issue.

The dispute escalated to the point where Sabeel lost his temper and, in a fit of rage, slit Zoya’s neck with a sharp weapon, killing her instantly. Sabeel immediately fled the scene. About an hour later, when Sabeel’s relatives returned home, they found Zoya’s body lying on the ground, covered in blood. Police, responding to the family’s information, began investigating the case and launched a frantic search for the absconding accused, Sabeel. This brutal murder, committed during the holy month of Ramadan, has sent shockwaves throughout the area.

12. Bloody Holi in Delhi: A young man beaten to death over a minor balloon dispute

A heartbreaking incident took place in Uttam Nagar (Hastasal Rehabilitation Colony) in Delhi, where the joy of Holi turned into mourning. The dispute began with a trivial incident when an 11-year-old girl from the family of the Hindu victim, Tarun, was playing Holi on the terrace of her house. She threw a water balloon at her father standing below, which accidentally fell onto the road, and the water splashed on a Muslim woman from the neighbourhood. The girl’s family said that they immediately apologised, but the Muslim woman and her family started a fight and called their relatives.

About an hour after the incident, 26-year-old Tarun was returning home on his bike after playing Holi with his friend when a mob of 15-20 Islamist militants ambushed him. The mob brutally attacked Tarun with iron rods, bricks, and stones. His grandfather, Man Singh, said through a choked voice that the attackers brutally beat him and, when he fell unconscious on the road, struck him in the chest with a heavy stone. Tarun died while undergoing treatment at the hospital. This dispute, which began over a small balloon, took the life of a cheerful young man due to a radical mindset.

13. Bloody Holi clash in Etah: Dalit youth beaten to death on the pretext of paint falling on him

A similar incident happened in the Etah district in Uttar Pradesh, where, amidst the festivities of Holi, Islamists targeted the family of a Dalit youth. On March 4, 2026, at around 8 p.m., 22-year-old Akash was playing Holi outside his home. Three brothers from the neighbourhood, Arbaaz, Shahbaaz, and Mustafa, happened to pass by and accidentally some colour got spilled on their clothes. Over this trivial matter, the three began abusing Akash’s mother and sister. When Akash resisted, the accused threw him to the ground and began brutally beating him with sticks.

Arbaaz struck Akash hard on the head with the butt of his pistol, causing him to collapse and start bleeding. When Akash’s sister Bina and sister-in-law Varsha ran to save him, Mustafa and Arbaaz assaulted them as well. As they left, the accused insulted the victim’s family with casteist slurs and threatened to kill them, saying, “We won’t let you live here.”

14. Delhi brutality: Innocents brutalised behind the shutters of a halal meat shop

A heinous incident came to light during Ramadan in the Dwarka area of ​​the country’s capital, Delhi. A 65-year-old Muslim man near Goyala Dairy targeted a Hindu girl aged 6 to 9 years. The incident took place on March 16, 2026, when the girl was playing with her younger sister near a school. The accused, who ran a Halal meat shop nearby, lured the girl on the pretext of giving her something and took her inside his Halal meat shop. There, he closed the shutter of the shop and committed brutality on the innocent girl.

This horrific incident came to light when the girl’s mother and a relative caught the accused red-handed, leading to communal tension in the area. The girl revealed that the Muslim man had also assaulted her on an earlier occasion. Following protests from residents, the police arrested him.

15. Chaos at Raisen Fort: Historic cannon fire, pro-Iran slogans raised

A controversial video from Raisen Fort in Madhya Pradesh went viral on social media recently. In the video, some Muslim men were seen standing on a hill above the historic fort, chanting “Allah-hu-Akbar” and saying things like “We support Iran“. The Muslim men, then, lit an ancient cannon in the fort with a matchstick. As soon as the fire broke out, a loud explosion occurred, filling the entire area with smoke.

The incident was presented as a particularly provocative message on social media, sparking outrage among locals. Based on a complaint from Brijesh Chawaria, a resident of Patel Nagar, Raisen, the police immediately took action and, given the seriousness of the matter, arrested four accused. The arrested Muslim men have been identified as Shadab Qureshi, Yusuf Sheikh, Wasim Mohammad, and Pappu alias Salman Qureshi. The desecration of historical heritage and the use of provocative slogans fueled communal tensions and security concerns in the area.

16. Raipur riot: Stone pelting at Marhi Mata Temple and bloody feud

The Maudhapara area of ​​Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh, was engulfed by violence and stone-pelting on March 16, 2026. The dispute began with a confrontation between two groups, which quickly escalated into a violent brawl near the Marhi Mata Temple. According to claims circulating on social media, a mob of Islamic fundamentalists targeted the temple late at night and pelted stones, sparking widespread communal tension in the area. In protest, a large number of Bajrang Dal activists surrounded the Maudhapara police station and issued a clear warning that if strict action was not taken against the perpetrators of the attack, they would retaliate.

According to media reports, this wave of violence in Raipur wasn’t limited to stone-pelting; four separate incidents of stabbings were also reported around the same time. Police investigations revealed that the Maudhapura violence stems from an old rivalry. Last year, men named Altaf and Rashid had attacked Ravi Raksel, leading to a feud between the two groups.

17. Desecration of the Holy Ganga: ‘Biryani party’ on a moving boat in Varanasi, 14 arrested

An incident that deeply hurt thereligious sentiments of Hindus came to light from the religious city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. A viral video of the incident showed a group of Muslims holding an Iftar party on a boat in the middle of the holy river Ganga. The incident happened on March 16, 2026, when a group of Muslim men broke their fast by feasting on ‘Chicken Biryani’ kept in a large vessel on a moving boat. After eating non-vegetarian food, these Muslim men threw the leftover bones directly into the holy stream of the river Ganga, thereby hurting the religious sentiments of Sanatan Dharma and the purity of the river.

The incident sparked widespread outrage among residents and Hindu organisations. Given the sensitivity of the matter, Varanasi police acted swiftly, arresting 14 individuals involved in the “floating party.”

18. Kidnapping and conversion of a minor Hindu girl in Rampur

On February 22, 2026, in the Patwai area of ​​Rampur district in Uttar Pradesh, a minor Hindu girl was kidnapped, held hostage, and forcibly converted. The incident sparked widespread outrage among the victim’s family and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists. The organisation immediately reached the Patwai police station, filed a written complaint, and strongly demanded that the girl be rescued immediately.

However, even after 24 hours of the incident, no trace of the girl was found, prompting Hindu organisations to issue a strict ultimatum to the police. According to the complaint, two Muslim youths abducted the girl and pressured her to convert to Islam. The police detained the village head and began questioning him.

19. Identity-based brutality: Mohammad Javed poses as Rahul Patel and blackmails people in Mehsana

A case of exploitation of a Hindu girl by concealing identity came to light from Khedalu town in Mehsana district, Gujarat. The incident occurred on February 22, 2026, when a man named Mohammad Javed posed as Rahul Patel, befriended the Hindu girl and deceived her. The accused gained her trust and took private photographs of her, which he later used to blackmail her.

The victim alleged that Javed lured her to a guest house, where he attempted to rape her. Upon receiving information about this heinous act, family members and villagers immediately rushed to the scene and caught the accused red-handed. Police swung into action, and based on the victim’s complaint, a case was registered against Mohammad Javed under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and he was taken into custody.

20. A Hindu man attacked in his house by a Muslim mob with a hammer for playing the Hanuman Chalisa in Ghaziabad

On March 10, 2026, a Hindu family was attacked by a violent mob for playing the Hanuman Chalisa on a loudspeaker in the Nandgram area of ​​Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. According to victim Hrithik Singh, the dispute began when some Muslim families in the neighbourhood objected to the Hanuman Chalisa being played on a DJ. This minor altercation quickly escalated into a conflict when Tahir, Rashid, and Salman, along with several unidentified associates, forcibly entered Hrithik’s home.

Pooja, a member of the victim’s family, said the attackers first targeted her husband while he was at a nearby shop, and then stormed the house. The attackers, crossing all limits of brutality, attacked Pooja’s innocent daughter with a hammer, leaving her bleeding. The family claims they were also publicly threatened with death. Station House Officer (SHO) of Nandgram police station, Umesh Kumar, took the main accused, Tahir, Rashid, and Salman, into police custody.

21. Radicalisation in Hyderabad: Cab driver brutally beaten for ‘Jai Shri Ram’ sticker

A disturbing incident of religious intolerance happened in the JB Nagar area of ​​Hyderabad, Telangana. Late on the night of February 26, 2026, Suresh Gaur, a Hindu cab driver, was targeted simply because he had a ‘Jai Shri Ram’ sticker on the back of his car. According to reports, a violent group of Muslims stopped his cab and started an argument over the sticker, which quickly escalated into a violent attack.

The mob of around 25-30 Islamic fundamentalists surrounded Suresh Gaur, forcibly pulled him out of his vehicle, and assaulted him. The attackers not only injured the driver but also vandalised his cab, shattering the windows and causing significant damage to the vehicle.

22. Communal clash in Kodagu: Hindu youth attacked during religious announcement

On March 3, 2026, in Napoklu town, Kodagu district, Karnataka, the announcement of a religious event led to violence. The incident occurred when some Hindu men announced an upcoming religious event through a loudspeaker on a vehicle. Local Muslim youths objected, leading to a minor altercation that quickly escalated into a violent fight. A Hindu youth named Gautam was seriously injured in the attack.

Following the incident, Hindu organisations demanded the immediate arrest of the culprits. Recognising the gravity of the situation, the police acted swiftly and registered an FIR against Rashid, Siddique, Suhail, and Rafi. Suhail, one of the main accused, was taken into custody.

23. Chhindwara audacity: A Hindu woman was threatened with rape by a man posing as a ‘Pathan’ on Instagram

A case of mental harassment via social media was reported in the Chhindwara district in Madhya Pradesh. The incident took place on February 24, 2026, when a 22-year-old Hindu woman shared a statement by a Hindu leader on Instagram. Enraged by this post, three Muslim men named Bilal, Dilawar, and Salman targeted the Hindu woman. They not only pressured her to remove the post through phone calls, but also crossed all limits of decency to intimidate her.

The accused used extremely offensive and violent language to mentally break the Hindu woman. One of the accused flaunted his identity and said, “I am a Pathan, I can actually commit a rape,” while the other, in an attempt to humiliate the girl, claimed that four girls from her community were his “girlfriends.” Instead of being intimidated by these horrific threats, the Hindu woman showed courage and immediately informed her family and filed a police complaint. Chhindwara police arrested all of them.

24. Dehradun Holi riot: Hindu youth attacked in a dispute over a burst balloon.

A disturbing incident of extremist violence happened amid the Holi celebrations in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. On March 2, 2026, Chirag Anand and his friend Anand were playing Holi near RGM Plaza on Chakrata Road when a water balloon got stuck on an electrical wire and burst. The water from the balloon splashed onto the clothes of Sahil Dhiman, who was standing nearby, leading to a clash.

Sahil got enraged and called his friends, and within moments, a mob of over 20 Muslims attacked Chirag with sticks and rods. The attackers brutally inflicted severe injuries on Chirag’s head and back, forcing him to hide in a nearby alley. It is alleged that the mob did not stop there; after pelting him with stones and bricks, they went to the victim’s home, where they also pushed and abused his mother.

25. Riots at Holika Dahan in Rajkot: Stunts and indecency towards women during the puja

On March 2, 2026, in the Bhagwatipara area of ​​Rajkot, Gujarat, tensions erupted during the sacred Holika Dahan celebrations when an attempt was made to disrupt the atmosphere of devotion and faith. At the time of the incident, a large number of local women and children were worshipping and circumambulating Holika. Meanwhile, two Muslim youths on a motorcycle suddenly arrived and began performing dangerous stunts in the crowd, causing panic.

When bystanders protested this unsafe and offensive behaviour, the Muslim youth left but returned shortly afterwards, accompanied by a mob of Islamists. The dispute quickly escalated into a violent clash. The Muslim mob created a ruckus, hurled abuses and behaved indecently towards the women present there. Police acted swiftly and detained several suspects on charges of disturbing the peace.

26. Religious tradition violated in Rampur: Huge uproar over premature Holika Dahan

Tensions erupted in Bajidpur village, Rampur district, Uttar Pradesh, on March 2, 2026, during Holika Dahan, when a Muslim man disrupted the religious ceremony. As per tradition, hundreds of Hindu families, women, and children had gathered for Holika Dahan and Parikrama at the auspicious time after the lunar eclipse. While people were preparing for the puja, a Muslim man secretly set fire to Holika before the scheduled time.

This incident sparked widespread outrage among the Hindus present, who saw it as a direct violation of their centuries-old religious traditions. As the situation became extremely tense, the Police immediately detained the Muslim man.

27. Bloody Holi in Chandauli: E-rickshaw rider and his friends carried out a deadly attack over colouring

On March 5, 2026, the joy of Holi in Dudhari-Tenduhan village in the Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh, turned to mourning when a trivial matter sparked a violent clash. Some Hindu men were dancing to traditional songs and applying colours to each other when some colour accidentally splashed onto a passing e-rickshaw driver named Khurshid. Khurshid got angry over this small incident and immediately called his friends to the scene.

The dispute turned violent, and the Muslim men, armed with sticks, hockey sticks, and sharp weapons, attacked the Hindu men playing Holi. The situation reached its peak when the attackers entered the home of a Hindu man and brutally assaulted those present. Nearly half a dozen people were seriously injured in this well-planned attack. Police acted swiftly and arrested the three main accused.

28. Stone pelting in Tonk on the eve of Holi: Violence after namaz left father and daughter bleeding

On the night of March 3, 2026, just a day before the festivities of Holi, communal tension and violence erupted in the Tonk district of Rajasthan, where an old dispute suddenly escalated into a violent incident. According to media reports, the dispute began when a Muslim family returned home after offering namaz and got into a fight with local Hindu families. The altercation escalated to the point where both sides resorted to lathi-charge and heavy stone-pelting, creating panic and chaos in the area.

A Hindu father and his daughter were seriously injured in this bloody clash and were immediately admitted to the Tonk District Hospital. Given the sensitivity of the situation, Tonk Deputy Superintendent of Police Mrityunjay Mishra deployed Rajasthan Armed Constabulary personnel, along with police from the City Kotwali, Purana Tonk, and Sadar police stations.

29. Barbarity in Bangladesh: A Hindu man beheaded and thrown near a brick kiln

Gopal Chandra Das, a 45-year-old Hindu man, was brutally murdered in the Pirojpur district of neighbouring Bangladesh. Gopal, who went missing on March 13, 2026, was found decapitated, and his body was found the next day on a riverbank near an abandoned brick kiln in Nesarabad subdistrict. The gruesome condition of the body sent shockwaves through the area and created widespread panic among the local Hindu community. According to police, the body was found near Mamun Miyan’s brick kiln premises, and the missing head of the body was evidence of the murderers’ extreme brutality.

The family named two individuals, Mohammad Samrat and Mohammad Raju, as suspects for this heinous murder. Initial investigations and family statements indicated that Gopal Chandra Das was first abducted and then taken to a secluded location and murdered. Police arrested the accused, Mohammad Samrat, while the other accused, Mohammad Raju, remained at large.

30. Holi riot in Munger: Stone pelting in a dispute over applying colours

On March 4, 2026, the joyous celebrations of Holi turned tense in the Jamalpur area of ​​Munger district, Bihar, when a violent clash broke out near the railway track connecting Sadar Bazaar and Rampur Colony. Locals were applying colour to each other with traditional fervour when a dispute arose between the Muslim community over the application of colour. The dispute escalated to the point where a mob of local Muslims pelted stones at the Hindus present.

One Hindu man sustained serious injuries in the sudden attack, while several others were also injured. Police took action, detaining five suspects and an investigation was launched to ensure the perpetrators receive the harshest punishment.

31. Ujjain riot: Stone pelting and attack on India’s World Cup victory celebrations

On the night of March 8, 2026, in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, a Hindu family celebrating India’s historic victory in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final was attacked. The incident occurred in Raj Royal Colony, under the jurisdiction of the Chimanganj Mandi police station, where Islamists caused violence during Ramadan. The Hindu family was celebrating the country’s victory by bursting firecrackers outside their home when some Muslim neighbours objected to the firecrackers and got into an argument.

The argument quickly escalated into a violent clash, and the Muslim mob brutally assaulted the family. Several family members of the Hindu family were injured in the attack. Immediate action was taken based on the victim’s complaint. Police detained Wahid Khan, Zakir, Sultan, Shadab, and other accused.

32. Ramadan terror in Rajasthan: Hindu family attacked for celebrating Bumrah’s wicket

On the night of March 8, 2026, in Badhoda Ghumakkad village under Kishangarh Bas police station of Alwar district (Khairthal-Tijara area) of Rajasthan, the excitement of cricket turned into a conflict when celebrating India’s victory proved costly for a Hindu family. This incident, which took place in the month of Ramadan, started when a Hindu family was enjoying the match between India and New Zealand on the terrace of their house. As soon as Indian bowler Jasprit Bumrah took two consecutive wickets in an over, the family members expressed their happiness by clapping in excitement.

Local Muslims in the neighbourhood objected to this celebration of the match and began abusing. The dispute quickly escalated, and soon a mob of around 15 to 20 Islamists, armed with sticks and iron rods, attacked the Hindu family. They pelted stones at the house of the Hindu family. One of the attackers climbed onto the roof and opened fire. In the attack, 30-year-old Bhajano Baiwas suffered a serious head injury and was left bleeding.

33. ‘Nikah’ plot in Bhiwandi during Ramadan: Minor raped

In Bhiwandi, Maharashtra, 20-year-old Arman Shaikh was arrested for raping, blackmailing, and forcing a minor girl into Nikah. The incident occurred on March 6, 2026, during the holy month of Ramadan. Police investigations revealed that the accused contacted the victim through social media in 2024. At the time, the girl was a minor, and Arman was approximately 18 years old. It is alleged that Arman sexually exploited the victim repeatedly for the past two years.

When the girl turned 18, Armaan began pressuring her to marry him. Fearing the accused’s blackmail and threats, the girl travelled to Bhiwandi for the wedding, where all the preparations for the wedding ceremony were made by the accused. Everyone, from the Qazi to the witnesses, was present for the ceremony. However, members of a Hindu organisation reached there just in time after getting information from the girl’s family. They rescued the girl safely. The police arrested Armaan Sheikh.

34. Ramadan violence in Lucknow: A Hindu girl converted

A 23-year-old Hindu woman from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, was lured into a love trap. She was physically exploited and forced to convert to Islam. The incident happened during Ramadan. The victim made serious allegations against a young man named Farheen Khan, who first had physical relations with her under the pretext of marriage and then lied to her that if she performed Nikah first, he would marry her according to Hindu customs. He also forced the victim to sign a Nikahnama.

After the Nikah, instead of taking the Hindu girl to her home, Farheen kept her in a rented room and constantly pressured her to recite the Kalma and convert to Islam. The cruelty reached its peak when the girl became pregnant, and Farheen kicked her in the stomach, causing her to miscarry. When she protested, Farheen threatened to kill her and sell her away.

35. Conversions in Kerala during Ramadan: Hindu women and children pressured to convert to Islam

A 21-year-old Hindu woman in Kerala’s Kozhikode district levelled serious allegations against her husband, Shahul Hameed. The incident happened during the month of Ramadan. The woman said that she was first lured into a love affair by Hameed, who married her according to Hindu rituals at the Guruvayoor temple. After the wedding, the couple lived together, and the woman gave birth to a child.

The woman said there was no talk of conversion before the marriage, but as soon as they began living together, the true nature of Shahul and his family was exposed. She said that shortly after the marriage, she and her child were pressured to convert to Islam. Fearing for her and her child’s safety, the victim approached the police. Thiruvambady police detained Shahul Hameed.

36. Minor forced into ‘nikah’ during Ramadan in Maharashtra

A case of harassment of a 15-year-old minor girl, during the month of Ramadan, came to light from the Shirdi police station area of ​​Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra. A Muslim man named Irfan Shaikh contacted the minor through Instagram and gradually began harassing her. Irfan stalked the Hindu girl on social media and pressured her to marry him.

The investigation revealed that Irfan was not alone in the conspiracy; some of his family members were also involved. Tormented with constant harassment, the minor told everything to her family, who filed a complaint at the police station. Police subsequently arrested the main accused, Irfan Sheikh.

37. Dalit Hindu teenager surrounded by Muslim mob in Chikkamagaluru during Ramadan

On February 26, 2026, during the month of Ramadan, a 17-year-old Dalit Hindu boy was surrounded by a Muslim mob in Malad Town in Chikkamagaluru district, Karnataka. The Hindu boy was riding a bike with his Muslim female friend when a group of Muslims noticed them and stopped them near Jyoti Circle on Market Road. The Islamist mob questioned the teenager about his Muslim friend and intimidated him. The situation calmed down at the time.

However, later in the night, some Muslim men forcibly entered the Dalit boy’s house and abused his entire family. They threatened to kill the boy and his family. Following the incident, police filed an FIR against eight people and detained three of the accused.

38. Stones pelted at a Hindu colony over a colour dispute in Shahjahanpur during Ramadan

In Mau Rasulpur village of the Shahjahanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, communal tensions flared up on Holi. On March 4, 2026, communal conflict erupted after a Hindu youth threw colour on a Muslim man while playing Holi. However, the police arrived at the scene and pacified both sides, but that did not end the conflict. An attack was planned by local Muslims at night in a secret meeting. The next morning, a large mob of Islamists attacked the Hindu colony.

The mob pelted stones at the houses of Hindus, seriously injuring several. Police filed charges under serious sections against around 100 rioters, including Zayed Ali, Shahid Ali, Aqeel Ahmed, Azim, Sohail, Amir, Mahkoo, and Hasrat.

39. Bloody clashes in Rudrapur during Ramadan: Muslim mobs pelted stones and opened fire during Holi celebrations.

Communal violence erupted during the Holi festival in Rudrapur, Udham Singh Nagar district, Uttarakhand. Late on the night of March 5, 2026, as locals in the Bhootbangla area were celebrating Holi with traditional fervour, a Muslim man disrupted the atmosphere. The Muslim man repeatedly tried to force his e-rickshaw through the crowd of Hindus taking part in Holi celebrations. When people present objected to his actions, he used abusive language and left.

Shortly afterwards, the Muslim man came back with a violent mob of dozens of Muslims and attacked unarmed Hindus celebrating Holi. The Islamic mob pelted stones and beat Hindus with sticks. According to eyewitnesses, gunfire was heard during the attack. More than a dozen people were injured in this sudden, well-planned attack.

40. Hindu families attacked over colour dispute in Barabanki during Ramadan

Communal violence broke out during Holi celebrations in the Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh. On March 4, 2026, the joy of Holi in Tikaria village of Deva police station area turned sour when a minor dispute over playing with colours escalated into a violent clash. Several Hindu families in the village were playing Holi when a group of local Muslims objected and created a ruckus.

A mob of Islamists, armed with sticks, iron rods, and knives, attacked unarmed Hindus. Eleven people were seriously injured. The attackers entered homes and brutally beat Hindu families, targeting anyone who tried to intervene. Upon receiving information about the incident, the police registered an FIR.

41. Murder during Holi feast in Baghpat during Ramadan

On March 4, 2026, during the festival of Holi, a Hindu man named Amrit Sharma was brutally stabbed to death following a minor altercation in Titroda village, Baghpat district, Uttar Pradesh. The incident happened when Amrit left home to attend a Holi feast at the invitation of his friend, Sameer. Amrit went to a chicken shop owned by a man named Sajid in the village, where he got into an argument with some Muslim men present there.

The dispute escalated to the point where Suhail, Anas, Shaukeen, and Chinku, who were present at the shop, attacked Amrit with knives. The attackers stabbed Amrit multiple times in the chest, abdomen, and waist, causing him to bleed profusely and die on the spot. The police filed a murder case against the four named accused.

42. Ramadan rampage in Lakhimpur: Meat thrown into temple

Communal fanaticism and violence in Mohammadpur village, Lakhimpur Kheri district, Uttar Pradesh, forced a Hindu family to flee their ancestral home. The incident occurred during the month of Ramadan on March 4, 2026, when the victim, Pradeep Verma, fled the village with his family, fed up with the oppression of his neighbours. Pradeep said that his neighbour, Ismail Ali, and his family had been mentally and physically abusing him for a long time.

As part of the conspiracy, the accused repeatedly threw pieces of flesh and bones into the local Shiva temple and the well in front of Pradeep’s house. On March 4, 2026, when the temple premises were desecrated, Pradeep strongly objected. When he protested, Ismail, Warish Ali, Tahban Ali, and Ishtiyak, along with the women in their families, attacked Pradeep Verma and brutally beat him. After the incident, Pradeep decided to leave the village with his family.

43. Ramadan riot in Gaya: Stones pelted at several people, including a pregnant Hindu woman, after a child was hit by a ball

On March 5, 2026, during Ramadan, a minor incident in the Belaganj area of ​​Gaya district, Bihar, escalated into a bloody clash when a ball accidentally hit a Muslim man while children were playing. The man strongly objected, sparking an argument. Soon, a large Muslim mob gathered at the spot and indiscriminately pelted stones at Hindus’ homes.

This sudden attack and stone-pelting created panic in the area and caused extensive damage to several houses. Several people were injured in the violence, including a 21-year-old pregnant woman, Lalita Devi. According to locals, the tension in the village had old roots; about a week earlier, a dispute had erupted between the two sides over a Kalash Yatra held during the Akhand Kirtan.

44. Brutality in Varanasi during Ramadan: A Hindu minor drugged and raped at Assi Ghat

A minor Hindu girl was subjected to ‘Love Jihad’ and brutality during the month of Ramadan at the famous Assi Ghat in the religious city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The teenager, a resident of Chandauli’s Baburi police station area, had gone to visit Assi Ghat with her brother on March 7, 2026, where she was kidnapped by a man named Nabi Rasool alias Javed. After the kidnapping, Javed called the Hindu girl’s father and not only admitted to having her in his custody, but also said that he would forcibly convert her and marry her.

The entire conspiracy was revealed when the accused fled, leaving the young woman unconscious near her village on the morning of March 8, 2026. The victim recounted her ordeal, stating that she was held captive, drugged, and repeatedly raped. Javed also captured obscene videos and photographs of her to blackmail her. Bhelupur police later arrested the accused.

45. Non-Muslim children are prohibited from eating at a Canadian school during Ramadan

In an attempt to be inclusive, the school administration at Fairview School in Calgary, Canada, made a decision that increased the difficulties of non-Muslim students. During the month of Ramadan, the school, in the name of showing respect to the students observing fast, banned them from eating food in its cafeteria. According to the school’s official email, the lunch area was declared a ‘food-free’ zone. Due to this arbitrary order, the students who were not observing fast also had to remain hungry during lunch time and had to find another place in the bitter cold.

The rule left young children (around 9 years old), studying in grades 4 to 6, hungry. The situation worsened for students in grades 7 to 9, who were completely prohibited from eating in the lunchroom during their one-hour break. Notably, fasting is generally mandatory in Islam from the age of 13 to 14, but the school, in its appeasing move, imposed fasting on even younger non-Muslim children.

46. ​​Terrorist attack in America during Ramadan: Gunfire accompanied by chants of ‘Allahu Akbar’

On March 12, 2026, a former military personnel entered a building at Old Dominion University (ODU) in Virginia, USA, and opened fire indiscriminately. In this horrific incident, which occurred during the month of Ramadan, 36-year-old Mohammed Baylor Jalloh entered the classroom, shouting “Allahu Akbar” and opened fire. Lieutenant Colonel Brandon Shah was tragically killed in the attack, while two others were seriously injured.

Surprisingly, the attacker, Jalloh, was no ordinary criminal. He was a former Army National Guard member convicted in 2016 of supporting the dreaded terrorist organisation ISIS. He was on surveillance after being released early. At the time of his attack, students were training to become military officers. These brave students fearlessly confronted the terrorist and captured him. According to the FBI, the students stabbed Jalloh to death in self-defence.

47. Ramadan carnage in Nigeria: 23 killed in Maiduguri suicide bombing

A deadly suicide attack took place in Maiduguri, Nigeria, during the month of Ramadan. On the night of March 16, 2026, suspected attackers carried out a series of bomb blasts targeting this major city in north-eastern Nigeria. According to the Nigerian police, these suicide blasts killed at least 23 innocent people, while more than 100 people were seriously injured. This attack in the capital of violence-hit Borno state is being considered one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in recent years. No terrorist group officially claimed responsibility for this attack, but some Islamic terrorist groups were suspected.

48. Radicalisation in London during Ramadan: Attack on a Holika Dahan event in Harrow

On March 4, 2026, during the month of Ramadan, in the Harrow area of ​​London, the capital of Britain, when the local Hindu community was celebrating the ‘Holika Dahan‘ with legal permission, the festive atmosphere was turned violent by Islamic fundamentalists. A large number of Hindu families, women and innocent children were participating in this event. According to eyewitnesses, some people from a nearby mosque suddenly disrupted the event. The attackers not only uprooted and threw away the sound system installed there, but also threatened the people participating in the celebration.

Surprisingly, after the initial altercation, the group briefly left but returned shortly after with about 20 other extremists and attacked again. This occurred despite the presence of the local mayor, representatives of Harrow Council, and senior Labour Party figures. Despite the presence of so many VIP figures, the attackers were able to create a ruckus.

49. Al-Qaeda rampages in Burkina Faso during Ramadan: 50+ killings

During the month of Ramadan in the African country of Burkina Faso, the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group JNIM carried out a horrific massacre, shaking the entire region. On February 27, 2026, in a major attack in the northern areas, the terrorists crossed all limits of barbarity, killing more than 50 soldiers and civilians.

This spate of Jihadist attacks is not new in the country, which has been under the military rule of Ibrahim Traore since September 2022. But this time, the terrorists displayed brutality, not only killing people but also setting grain stores on fire and looting food supplies, threatening starvation for the local population. The terrorist group claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

50. Terrorist bombings in Moscow during Ramadan: fanatics’ brutality and innocent bloodshed

On February 24, 2026, during Ramadan, in Moscow, the capital of Russia, an ISIS-affiliated terrorist targeted a railway station and blew himself up, killing a police officer on duty on the spot and seriously injuring several others.

The irony is that while the fundamentalists who perpetrate these incidents tout this month as a time of “worship and purity,” the reality on the ground appears to be quite the opposite. The 50 incidents documented in this report are merely a sample, while there may be hundreds more that may never be exposed. The heinous rapes of women and minor girls, the murders of innocents, and the unrest unleashed by shedding the blood of innocent people expose the duplicity of these fundamentalists.

The list of other events is available here.

(The article is a translation of the original article published at OpIndia Hindi.)

No atta, No electricity, and yet Pakistan ranks higher than India in the 2026 World Happiness Report: Read how such international indexes are a farce

Rukma Rathore
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No atta, No electricity, and yet Pakistan ranks higher than India in the 2026 World Happiness Report: Read how such international indexes are a farce

The World Happiness Report 2026 has been unveiled, identifying the Nordic countries as the happiest globally, with Finland, Iceland and Denmark securing the first three spots. The survey, which is released every year around the United Nations (UN) International Day of Happiness, evaluates over 140 nations, based on how people assess their own lives. Interestingly, Pakistan occupies the 109th spot while India is positioned at 118th.

Notably, the Islamic Republic which has been grappling with a debilitating economy, characterised by long queues for depleting flour reserves that have led to violence, fatalities and injuries, a severe suppression of its alleged democracy with a former prime minister languishing in prison, relentless terror attacks from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Baloch rebels along with relentless border altercations with neighbours, is deemed happier than the fastest growing economy in the world. Their situation is increasingly dire as a result of the Middle East tensions.

This is a country that has faced global humiliation after suffering repeated defeats at the hands of India, both on the battlefield and on the cricket fields. Hence, the ranking can only be considered valid if Pakistanis are detached from their grim reality, living in a fantasy world where everything is perfect or if the report itself is flawed.

Of course, their blatant absurdity and impudence, where they win wars on social media and revel in these claims despite the contrasting truth, cannot be overlooked, but the reliability of the methodologies utilised in these surveys also brings forth significant doubts.

The craft of impaired methodology

According to WHR’s official website, the Cantril Ladder, a single life analysis question, serves as the basis for their happiness score, which is a culmination of five terms: well-being, subjective well-being, life evaluation and satisfaction, alongside affect in relation to a person’s feelings or emotional states.

It said that the Gallup World Poll has been gathering the data since 2005, and independent specialists determine this. “The Gallup World Poll collects data throughout the year, taking into account religious observances, weather patterns, pandemics, war, and other local factors,” the publication highlighted.

After the calculation procedure was outlined, it elaborated on the sample size, which should evoke special focus. “The number of people and countries surveyed varies year to year but, in general, more than 100,000 people in 140 countries and territories participate in the Gallup World Poll each year. In most countries, approximately 1,000 people are contacted by telephone or face-to-face each year,” it stated.

The outcome derived from such a small group, particularly in countries like India, which has the largest population in the world, generate skepticism about its authenticity. How can it mirror the voice or reality of more than 1.4 billion citizens and does this not hold true for any other nation as well? Local opinion polls in India cover more people to establish the credibility of their findings.

“To provide a more precise estimate of the average life evaluation in each country, we combine the responses from the last three years. For example, our 2025 rankings are based on combined data from 2022 to 2024. Using a sample size of at least 3,000 reduces random sampling error and allows us to keep countries in the rankings in years when no survey was conducted,” the website declared.

However, the declarations fall short because of the limited number of approached individuals. Additionally, not everyone is interviewed face-to-face and answers are obtained over the phone, making it impossible to confirm the respondent’s identity, their comprehension of the inquiry, or the impact of their surroundings all of which play a key role in these exercises. More importantly, how can an opinion poll be a true indicator of factors that demand extensive calculations and details to measure happiness?

WHR indicated that some countries excel more than others based on six factors, which consist of “having someone to count on, log GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and freedom from corruption.” It goes without saying that India is miles ahead of Pakistan in these sectors, even when the intangible inquiries are disregarded.

India is the 4th largest economy while Pakistan has relied on financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund, the United States and others for decades. Islamabad is ruled by its corrupt army, either directly or through a puppet government of politicians only keen to remain in power and fund personal bank accounts, while New Delhi is a thriving democracy.

The two societies are essentially polar opposites. India leans towards conservatism, while its neighbour is deeply rooted in a strict Islamic ideology, dictating all decisions related to life, which, if resisted, can lead to severe consequences. The liberty to make personal choices is primarily reserved for the upper class, similar to other resources in the country.

The figures of Pakistani citizens travelling to India for treatment of especially complicated diseases underscore the truth about the defective healthcare system in their country. They are obviously destined to have shorter lifespans than Indians in their doomed homeland. Thus, one might wonder: if Pakistan is lagging behind India in these important aspects, how can it be happier?

Why international indexes are a farce

The issue pertains not only to this instance but also to other international indices notorious for their bias against India. Although it is true that the country faces its own set of challenges that it must confront, these partial surveys have historically overlooked its achievements and improvements over the years, relegating it below some of the worst nations in the world.

The government outlined the same on 15th October 2022, when it dismissed the Global Hunger Report 2022, where India was named after Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, charging that the latter had significant methodological shortcomings and an incorrect estimation of hunger.

“Misinformation seems to be the hallmark of the annually released Global Hunger Index. It is an erroneous measure of hunger and suffers from serious methodological issues. Three out of the four indicators used for the calculation of the index are related to the health of Children and cannot be representative of the entire population. The fourth and most important indicator estimate of the Proportion of Undernourished (PoU) population is based on an opinion poll conducted on a very small sample size of 3000,” it observed.

According to the statement, the centre’s efforts to guarantee food security for the populace, specifically during the Covid pandemic, have been purposefully disregarded by the report, which is likewise detached from facts.

“Taking a one-dimensional view, the report lowers India’s rank based on the estimate of the PoU population for India at 16.3%. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimate is based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) Survey Module conducted through Gallop World Poll, which is an opinion poll based on 8 questions with a sample size of 3000 respondents,” it added.

Biased analysts and their dubious reports

American sociologist Salvatore Babones also explored the topic in a paper from last year where he examined how the personal favouritism of the “experts” plays a crucial role in these results.

He wrote, “Clear evidence of this can be seen in the evaluations of Indian democracy published by the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute. The V-Dem ratings, first published in 2017, have rapidly become the standard reference point for evaluating the world’s democracies, completely eclipsing all other sources in analytical focus and the number of citations.”

“Although the V-Dem ratings rely on a highly sophisticated statistical methodology, they are ultimately based on expert evaluations. And there is strong circumstantial evidence to suggest that the experts who have been consulted by V-Dem have allowed their subjective preferences to shape evaluations that are meant to be objective,” Babones mentioned.

The institution is financed by the sinister George Soros and classified India as an “electoral autocracy,” lower than Nepal in its previous year’s review of democracies. Babones stated that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind were outlawed on the first day of the state of emergency imposed by late Indira Gandhi regime in 1975 until democratic elections were held in 1977. Thousands of their members and all leaders were also thrown behind bars.

“Yet throughout that period, the V-Dem historical database rates civil society repression in India at two points on a scale from 0 (severe) to 4 (none),” he pointed out, sharing the descriptor which alleged that “the government engages in minor legal harassment (detentions, short-term incarceration) to dissuade (civil society organisations) CSOs from acting or expressing themselves.”

The sociologist invoked the V-Dem codebook, which insists, “religiously inspired organisations (if they are engaged in civic or political activities” are part of the civil society outfits and the RSS and JIH and fit within this category. “Clearly and unambiguously, the correct V-Dem coding for India for 1976 should have been one (the government arrests, tries, and imprisons leaders of and participants in oppositional CSOs who have acted lawfully),” he conveyed.

Nevertheless, only one of its five coders provided this precise assessment. “The result is that democracy indices, like those published by V-Dem, inevitably incorporate moral judgments: after all, the judges are human and thus subjective beings,” he aptly concluded which is true for other such indexes as well.

Conclusion

The international indexes undoubtedly have no credibility and are primarily employed as a propaganda asset for preferred nations or governments. They disparage what they disagree with through bogus and misleading methods or outright denial, while bolstering what they support using similar tactics.

This has been particularly true for India since the Modi government took office in 2014. If it is performing exceptionally bad in all other indexes during his tenure, it may very well be among the unhappiest countries to sustain this trend. Who is bothered about trivialities like data and facts, after all?

The Wire and Delhi Riot conspirator Apoorvanand push ‘Muslim Victimhood’ spin on Uttam Nagar lynching: Read how the Left reframes crimes against Hindus to shield Islamists

Shraddha Pandey
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The Wire and Delhi Riot conspirator Apoorvanand push ‘Muslim Victimhood’ spin on Uttam Nagar lynching: Read how the Left reframes crimes against Hindus to shield Islamists

From the 2002 Godhra carnage, 2020 anti-Hindu Delhi Riots, Pahalgam Islamic terror attack, brutal murder of Udaipur Hindu tailor Kanhaiyalal, to the recent lynching of Tarun Kumar by a Muslim mob in Uttam Nagar, the Islamo-leftist cabal has invariably been portraying reactionary Hindu outrage as a bigger existential threat than the Islamist attacks. In pursuit of whitewashing anti-Hindu crimes of Islamists, Islamo-leftists even resort to vilifying Hindus, overturning the entire victim-perpetrator dynamic. In this vein, leftist rag The Wire has churned out a fresh Muslim victimhood propaganda piece concerning the Tarun murder case.

The op-ed titled, “In Delhi’s Uttam Nagar, Hate is Free, But Muslim Safety Isn’t,” 2020 Delhi Riots accused professor Apoorvanand peddled the Muslim victimhood bogey, even as it is a Hindu family that has lost its son to a Muslim mob instigated by a Muslim woman who could not tolerate Holi colours splashed over her mistakenly.

“The local administration, if we are to believe it, is doing commendable work. It has ensured that the mob that wishes to massacre Muslims has not been allowed to carry out the violence it so openly desires,” The Wire article published on 18th March 2026 reads.

Apoorvanand asks a question: “But one might ask a simpler question: what happens to the members of a community who repeatedly hear slogans that threaten even their graves with desecration?”

Answering this, the Islamist sympathiser says that Hindus coming out in protests and raising aggressive slogans, including those about playing Holi with the blood of Muslims, is being tolerated by the administration because “After all, has not a Hindu died? Would the blood of other Hindus not boil?”

Apoorvanand picked the supposed demand of protesting Hindus that the police withdraw for fifteen minutes and give them a free hand, to portray Hindus as bloodthirsty mobsters baying for Muslim blood over a small matter like the lynching of a Hindu youth by a Muslim mob.

Sar tan se Juda mobs get a pass, but Hindus outraged against the lynching of Tarun Kumar is ‘call for massacre of Muslims’: The Wire projects Muslim perpetrator guilt on Hindu victims

The Wire contributor ideally expected Hindus to demonstrate tolerance, remain ensconced in their houses, and wait for Muslims to find another excuse to lynch them. Coming out on the streets, venting out anger against Islamists, and demanding action against the killers of Tarun Kumar Khatik, is not very good for India’s secular fabric, idea of India, Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb, and whatnot.

On one hand, Apoorvanand accuses Delhi Police of ‘cooperating’ with the Hindu protestors, whom he called a “violent mob”, on the other, he also says that the police have “not agreed to the mob’s demand that they withdraw from the scene for fifteen minutes and give the mob a free hand.”

Unlike the Hindu ‘mob’ who rage in anger, may vandalise a few properties, and pressurise the administration to take strict action against the killers of Tarun Kumar, a Muslim mob relies more on its stone-pelting and Sar Tan Se Juda expertise than the police or administration.

The 2022 Nupur Sharma episode serves as a fitting example of this. The ex-BJP leader was hounded by Islamists for simply quoting their religious text, calls for her beheading were given, riots erupted in many parts of the country, and Hindu tailor Kanhaiyalal and a Maharashtra resident, Umesh Kolhe, were brutally killed by Muslim jihadists for expressing online support to Sharma. Yet, from the judiciary to the Islamo-leftist ‘intelligentsia’, everyone blamed Nupur Sharma, essentially telling Hindus that merely quoting their scripture, not even criticising it, is a bigger problem and a justifiable excuse for Muslim mobs to run riots and behead Hindus.

There have been many occasions when Muslim politicians, particularly those from AIMIM, have threatened Hindus by saying that they would show their strength to Hindus if the police were removed for fifteen minutes. The likes of Apoorvanand have no issues then, in fact, they would even come up with justifications like the BJP-RSS have terrified Muslim ‘minorities’ to such an extent they have no option but to grow aggressive in their defence.

In the present case, Islamists, including Umardeen (49) and his son Muzaffar (25), assaulted Tarun Kumar to death after a small argument that started when a child threw a water balloon, which accidentally splashed a woman from the accused’s community. However, The Wire article does not even name the perpetrators behind Tarun Kumar’s brutal lynching.

Apoorvanand claims that Hindus killed Sikhs during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, giving a Hindu vs Sikh spin to a violent political retribution

Ironically, The Wire author shrewdly downplays the communal nature of the lynching of the Hindu youth in Delhi’s Uttam Nagar, invoking the 1984 anti-Sikh riots to rake a communal ‘Hindu mob attacked Sikhs’ narrative, where none existed. Alongside ‘Hindu mobs’, Apoorvanand labelled the police and even the army as “accomplices of violent Hindu mobs” against Muslims.

“In 1984, not only in Delhi but in other parts of India as well, the police allowed Hindus enraged by the assassination of Indira Gandhi to loot and kill Sikhs as much as they wished. In many cases, it assisted the looters and the murderers. In the Hashimpura massacre, army personnel, along with the police, did not merely permit the mob; they themselves killed Muslims. Since Independence, Muslims have had ample experience of how the police often act as accomplices of violent Hindu mobs when violence is directed against them,” Apoorvanand writes.

In the Tarun murder case, it is apparent that the Muslim woman on whom the Holi colour splashed chose not to tolerate an innocent mistake by Hindu children residing in her neighbourhood and unleashed a Jihadi mob on the Hindu youth.

In the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom, on the contrary, there was no communal angle. It was not Hindus who hit the streets, singling out Sikhs and lynching them. It was Congress workers, who went on to be rewarded by the party leadership, who ran riots to avenge the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. It was not a spontaneous Hindu demonstration of rage against Sikhs, but a Congress-orchestrated massacre.

It is a well-documented fact that many Congress leaders supplied kerosene and other materials to attack and loot Sikhs to avenge Indira Gandhi’s killing. In fact, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi has even shamelessly justified and trivialised the Congress-orchestrated anti-Sikh pogrom by saying that “When a big tree falls, the earth shakes a bit”.

The 2004 Nanavati Commission report also explicitly found that it was Congress leaders and workers who either helped or incited mobs. There was no role of the BJP-RSS or common Hindus in the violence. In fact, ordinary Hindus and RSS sheltered Sikhs, protecting them from bloodthirsty mobs of Congress workers.

Moreover, it is quite audacious of a known BJP-detractor like Apoorvanand to mention the Hashimpura massacre to suggest that Hindu mobs and police have historically been complicit when it comes to targeting Muslims, since it was not a case of Hindu-police complicity but Congress’s ‘secular’ crime.

On 22nd May 1987, Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary (UP-PAC) entered the communally tense Hashimpura area, took around 50 young Muslim men in a truck to the Upper Ganga Canal and shot them dead while tossing their bodies into the water, killing 42 of them. This brutality was not committed by Hindus but by police officials at the behest of the Congress government.

Giving the massacre a communal colour to vilify Hindus and shift the blame of Congress party’s misdeeds on the Hindus only shows the desperation of the likes of Apoorvanand to pick past incidents and distort facts about them to whitewash present Islamist crimes.

Unsurprisingly, Islamist cheerleader Apoorvanand did not mention incidents wherein police fired at defenceless Hindus. Be it the 1966 Hindu massacre wherein around 3 to 7 lakh Hindus sadhus were attacked in 1966 by the Delhi police at the behest of Indira Gandhi, or the Uttar Pradesh Police’s firing on Hindu karsevaks in 1990 on the orders of Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Apoorvanand also mentioned the 2020 anti-Hindu Delhi Riots and claimed that since ‘violent’ Hindu mobs were allegedly raising “Dilli Police, lathi chalao, hum tumhare saath hain (Delhi Police, raise the stick, we are with you) slogans, the police united with Hindus to thrash Muslims.

“One might pause to ask: at what moment does a public that naturally fears the police begin to feel that the police belong to it?” Apoorvanand asks.

The answer lies in the fact that the victims seek police help, not the perpetrators. Muslim mobs which pelted stones at Hindu houses, on police personnel out there to restore law and order, and at Hindus, would obviously not say “Dilli Police lath chalao”, because they know whose actions deserve the police’s lathis and whose don’t.

However, defying logic and common sense to the extent of even communalising Indian police, which is composed of personnel from all religious backgrounds, is quite normal for Islamo-leftists as long as it contributes to the Muslim victimhood narrative.

It must also be recalled how the entire liberal-secular cabal was giving cover fire for Islamist as they wreaked havoc on the streets of Delhi against Hindus. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and other Aam Aadmi Party leaders, like Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, had in December 2019 cast aspersions that Delhi Police, at the behest of the BJP and not the unruly mob protesting against the CAB (now CAA) set some DTC buses on fire in the national capital during the anti-CAA Jamia riots.

The Wire article further laments how Indian Muslims are not even allowed to protest against attacks on Iran, are advised to go to Iran, and police action is taken against them. However, author Apoorvanand makes no mention of how, in most such pro-Khamenei protests, Muslims themselves expressed willingness to go to the Iranian warzone and lay their lives in the cause of avenging Khamenei. Visuals of Burqa-clad Muslim women even accusing their own country’s government of ‘betraying’ Iran also surfaced online. These people having their loyalty for foreign religious leaders over their own country is not problematic for The Wire, but those criticising them are. Here too, Hindu reaction attracts more liberal outrage than Islamist action.

From sympathising with Ajmal Kasab, downplaying Islamic terror attacks, to an active role in the 2020 anti-Hindu Delhi Riots: Is Professor Apoorvanand a borderline Jihadi?

Such blatant Muslim victimhood propaganda coming from someone like Apoorvanand, who has a history of sympathising with 26/11 Mumbai Attack perpetrator Ajmal Kasab, is not surprising. The Delhi University professor, who accuses the police of being complicit in ‘Hindu mob violence’ against Muslims, himself is an accused in the 2020 anti-Hindu Delhi Riots.

One of the main accused in the Delhi riots case – Gulfisha alias Gul, who is arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), had confessed to the Delhi Police, saying that the Delhi University professor Apoorvanand was the mastermind behind the conspiracy to incite riots in Delhi.

The accused had claimed Apoorvanand had prepared a Burqa-clad Khwateen team ahead of the Anti-Hindu Delhi riots. Gulfisha had disclosed that Apoorvanand had issued them an advance heads-up, presaging a riot. Furthermore, Gulfisha also added that Professor Apoorvanand also lavished praises on the students after anti-Hindu riots engulfed the national capital.

She had also said that Professor Apoorvanand had directed them that the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) was going to organise a movement at 20-25 places across Delhi, and the purpose of the movement was to portray the Indian government as an oppressive regime that discriminates against Muslims. “This will only happen if riots take place under the guise of the protests,” Gulfisha had quoted Professor Apoorvanand.

The Wire’s Apoorvanand passes off the Muslim mob lynching of Hindu youth Tarun in Delhi’s Uttam Nagar as a “quarrel between two families”

When it comes to pushing the Muslim victimhood bogey, even incidents where Hindus are the victims, Islamo-leftist propagandists do not shy away from weaving a warp and weft of lies. The Wire and Apoorvanand have attempted the same in the Tarun mob lynching case.

Apoorvanand downplayed the Hindu boy’s lynching as a ‘quarrel’ between two neighbouring families. With people from both sides sustaining injuries, with one death on the Hindu side.

“Friends outside India are astonished when they hear all this. They see that a quarrel occurred between two families. There was a fight. One family was Muslim and the other Hindu. People from both sides were injured. One man from the Hindu family was fatally injured. After that, almost all the members of the Muslim family were arrested. Now, surely, there will be an investigation. There will be a trial. The Muslim family, too, has its side of the story. They too were injured. After the police investigation, the court will consider every aspect and deliver its verdict. That, they say, is how things are done everywhere in the world,” Apoorvanand writes.

He also claimed that local Hindus are not outraged over Tarun’s killing and that it is only outsiders who are causing trouble. However, in conversation with OpIndia, local Hindus in Uttam Nagar expressed their anger over the mob lynching of the Hindu youth, with Hindu neighbours even alleging that the attack was pre-planned.

Excerpt taken from the relevant The Wire article.

Before commenting on this blatant whitewashing of a mob lynching as a ‘local dispute’, it would be appropriate to get the facts about the Tarun murder case straight.

During Holi celebrations in Delhi’s Uttam Nagar on Wednesday, 4th March, a 26-year-old man named Tarun Kumar was beaten to death following a dispute sparked by an accidental splash of coloured water from a balloon. The violence erupted in the JJ Colony area of southwest Delhi during the festival.

According to the police and family accounts, an 11-year-old girl from Tarun’s family was playing Holi on her terrace and threw a water balloon, aiming at her father below. The balloon fell on the road and splashed water on a woman from a neighbouring Muslim family, leading to an argument between the two households.

The matter was resolved at first after the Hindu family apologised, but tensions escalated later that evening. When Tarun was returning home on his bike after celebrating Holi with a friend, he stopped by a group of 40-50 people belonging to the Muslim community. He was brutally assaulted with iron rods, bricks, stones, and other objects.

Apoorvanand smartly threw his weight behind his ‘friends from outside India’, to downplay the communal nature of Tarun’s killing, play the ‘Muslims too are victims’ narrative, while this equivalence is absolutely dishonest. The Hindu side has lost a son to an intolerant Muslim mob, while the accused Muslim family faced arrests and partial demolition of its illegal constructions.

In a case of pure victim inversion, there is a point in the article where Apoorvanand laments that ‘terrified’ Muslims are fleeing the locality for Eid amidst Hindu outrage over Tarun Kumar’s killing. “No one stopped them. No one even seemed to think it necessary. The police may well say that this is not their responsibility – that they are leaving voluntarily,” he wrote.

What does Apoorvanand even expect? Local Hindus go around Muslim houses, check on their well-being, apologise for being enraged over the killing of an innocent Hindu man, raise funds for the accused Muslim family to fight the court case against the deceased Hindu youth’s family, or form a ‘human chain’?

Moving ahead, The Wire piece raises some questions that have quite elaborately and in a very violent fashion been answered by the very people it defends and paints as victims.

“But when a Muslim is killed, do neighbouring Muslims begin to demand that Hindu houses be demolished? Does the administration demolish the houses and shops of the accused Hindus? Do Muslim organisations begin to incite violence against Hindus? Does the media launch a campaign of propaganda against Hindus? We know the answer,” The Wire article reads.

From the brutal killings of Hindu tailor Kanhaiyalal in Rajasthan’s Udaipur and Umesh Kohle, a veterinary medical shop owner in Maharashtra’s Amravati by Islamic jihadis for supporting ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, shooting down of Head Constable Ratan Lal by a Muslim mob in Delhi Chand Bagh during 2020 anti-Hindu riots, brutal murder of IB officer Ankit Sharma by Muslim rioters, Kishan Bharwad, Praveen Nettaru in Karnataka, Ram Gopal Mishra in UP’s Bahraich, to Tarun Kumar in Delhi’s Uttam Nagar, the list is endless.

Islamists attack Hindus using trivial excuses, often store stones and petrol bombs on rooftops, to attack the police when it arrives to arrest Muslim perpetrators, and unlike Hindus, they don’t wait for the administration to demolish Hindu houses, they take the task upon themselves.

Also, Islamist organisations and politicians have consistently been inciting Muslims to run riots. The anti-Hindu mob violence against Hindus in West Bengal during an anti-Waqf protest exemplifies that Islamists do not even need the excuse of any Hindu provocation to attack Hindus. It was seen how AAP leader Amanatullah Khan sought police protection for AAP councillor and Delhi Riots accused Tahir Hussain, who admitted to having the intention of “teaching Hindus a lesson”. In fact, AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan himself was a part of the mob that turned violent.  There are Muslim organisations, Islamist individuals, and an entire Islamo-leftist ideological ecosystem that shields, glorifies and even provides legal assistance to Muslim rioters.

But Apoorvanand, who is either living in a cave or has deliberately turned a blind eye to Muslim intolerance of Hindus, fails to see the obvious.

However, such blatant projection of Muslim guilt onto Hindus, coming from The Wire, is not surprising given the leftist rag has a history of peddling anti-Hindu narratives and platforming rioters and anti-national elements like Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam as contributors.

Towards the end of the propaganda piece, Apoorvanand stresses that “propagation of hatred against Muslims is a crime”, but for him, propagation of hatred against Hindus is not. For The Wire, the reactionary anger of Hindus towards Islamists is a ‘crime’, but Muslims killing Hindus driven by their religious intolerance is just a ‘quarrel’ or a ‘local dispute’. This is how it has always been for the Islamo-leftist ecosystem.

Godhra, Pahalgam, Red Fort blast to Tarun mob lynching: Leftists have long been in the business of projecting Muslim guilt on Hindus

Right after the Pakistan-sponsored Islamic terror attack in Pahalgam in April last year, wherein Jihadis singled out Hindus, demanded Kalma recitation, checked Hindu male tourists for circumcision to confirm their religious identity before shooting them dead, there was a natural anger over how Islamic Jihadis are absolutely intolerant of innocent Hindus. Much of this anger was also fuelled by Muslims downplaying the religiosity of the attack and distancing Islam from even at it was a religiously-motivated attack. Back then, the entire left-liberal cabal peddled an Islamophobia bogey, making it a bigger issue than the killing of Hindus for being Hindus.

A similar pattern was seen after the Red Fort blast in November 2025, when many people expressed unwillingness to trust Muslims, give them flats on rent or visit Muslim doctors, after a young Muslim doctor, Umar Un Nabi, carried out a Fidayeen attack to kill kafirs. It was very natural for people with sane minds to be fearful and have reservations about associating with Muslims in any way, since even highly-educated doctors turned out to be self-blowing Jihadis and using their education for planning bioterror attacks.

This, however, is not a new pattern. This has been ongoing since the 2002 Godhra riots. The trigger of the violence, the burning alive of 59 Hindus returning on a train from Ayodhya, by a Muslim mob in a premeditated conspiracy, was almost erased from public memory, and only the reactionary violence was highlighted to establish the narrative that it was Hindus who randomly attacked innocent and defenceless Muslims.

Over the years, many sympathy-evoking and guilt-tripping articles were floated by the Islamo-leftist ecosystem, crying over how Hindus are becoming intolerant and violent in response to Muslim mob violence, Islamic terror attacks, and Islamists mocking Hindu beliefs and traditions.

Take the case of Congress and the extended liberal ecosystem defending Muslim men who ate non-veg biryani and threw chewed bones into the waters during an iftar party on a boat in the holy Ganga River, with the ‘Hindus immerse ashes in Ganga’ fallacy.  Basically, Islamists can commit jihadi attacks, mob lynch Hindus, and do things to deliberately offend Hindus, but Hindus must never object. They must tolerate the intolerance of Islamists.

Apoorvanand’s The Wire piece is in continuation of this pattern of leftist propaganda machinery peddling Muslim victimhood bogey right after the Islamist mob commits violence against Hindus.

Islamist sympathiser Apoorvanand concludes his propaganda piece in The Wire with a question: “Eid is only a few days away. Is it honourable for any society that its neighbour should await a festival not with joy but with the fear of violence? What do the Hindus of Uttam Nagar, of Delhi, of India think?”

It would, however, have been better if The Wire and Apoorvanand asked Muslims if it was honourable for any society that its neighbour has lost their son to a brutal Muslim mob attack on the joyous festival of Holi?

We know what the Muslims of Uttam Nagar, of Delhi, of India think, but seeking an answer to this question directly from the very people leftists defend with every fibre of their being, would have their delusions about ‘Hindu-Muslim unity’, ‘peace’, ‘secularism’ and ‘idea of India’ shattered.

2025 Nagpur violence: The Indian Express does what it does best, finds fault with Maharashtra govt for not acting against Hindu victims and prosecuting Muslim rioters

Rukma Rathore
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2025 Nagpur violence: The Indian Express does what it does best, finds fault with Maharashtra govt for not acting against Hindu victims and prosecuting Muslim rioters

The month of March 2026 marked the first anniversary of the deadly Nagpur riots of 2025. They were prompted by a rumour of blasphemy during an agitation by Hindu activists demanding the removal of the Mughal despot Aurangzeb’s tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The episode resulted in serious violence, claiming one life and injuring 55 others.

The Muslim mob was involved in stone pelting and arson, showing no regard for the police, including female officers who endured molestation and attempts at disrobing. Afterwards, 13 First Information Reports (FIRs) were registered, and 12 charge sheets have already been submitted.

The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal leaders were the focus of the FIR that is pending a chargesheet under sections, mandating government approval. It was reported in a 19th March (Thursday) piece, “Nagpur riots, one year on: Chargesheets filed in all FIRs except one naming VHP, Bajrang Dal members” carried by “The Indian Express” which appeared to be offended about the lack of action against Hindus for their “audacity” to agitate within their free and democratic country.

Screengrab of The Indian Express report

“During the protest, an effigy of Aurangzeb and a representation of his tomb were set on fire,” it stated. However, the Muslim community claimed that a cloth featuring Quranic verses was also burned. “Later, a group of around 60 people gathered outside the Ganeshpeth Police Station, demanding action against VHP and Bajrang Dal members. An FIR was subsequently registered against office-bearers of the two outfits under sections relating to violation of prohibitory orders and restrictions imposed to maintain law and order,” the article added.

It cited police sources and mentioned that the official complaint first identified 9 people, including 8 office-bearers from Nagpur along with Govind Shende, the regional chief of the VHP for Maharashtra and Goa. Afterwards, another name was added to the list. They appeared in court and were released on bail. “Later that evening, violence broke out in reaction to the VHP and Bajrang Dal demonstrations,” IE declared.

Similar to other mainstream media that acts as a spokesperson for jihadis to whitewash their atrocious conduct, the media outlet also shifted the blame for the unrest onto saffron groups rather than those who truly unleashed terror on the streets. Now, should Hindus abstain from sharing their grievances out of fear of provoking such elements? Is the freedom to voice opinions exclusively guaranteed for one community in India?

Chargesheet lays bare the truth

The piece referred to FIR number 0115/2025 and noted that 51 individuals were charged with rioting, arson, damage and attacks on cops by a throng of 500 to 600 persons. 36 more identities were added once the investigation was finished.

“After the investigation was complete, 36 more names were added. A 1,900-page chargesheet was filed in June against the 87, all members of the Muslim community. While over 13 of them are still absconding, police said all the others are currently out on bail. Eleven of them are juveniles,” it informed.

The chargesheet used digital, forensic, and eyewitness evidence to analyse the assault as a “premeditated attack” on police personnel and public property. According to reports, forensic teams discovered a trolley full of stones at the scene, indicating that the pelting was premeditated. Swords, daggers, iron rods, and petrol bombs were carried by the assailants.

The startling revelations themselves illustrate how the culprits were merely biding their time to execute their conspiracy against the Hindu community and they did not spare the authorities. There were clearly meticulous planning and a strong intention behind the incident.

The article conveyed, “Investigators also said that while the violence was premeditated, a rumour had escalated the situation while the VHP-Bajrang Dal protest earlier in the day was the trigger.” This not only reaffirms the earlier statement that anything could serve as an excuse or trigger for the orchestrated chaos but also highlights that Hindus are evidently the scapegoats who can be both accused and subjected to violence simultaneously.

Chargesheet has no reference to “Kalma ki chadar”

“The chargesheet listed 179 prosecution witnesses including police personnel and other officials. While witnesses talked about a green-coloured chadar being burned during the VHP-Bajrang Dal protest, the chargesheet was silent on whether this was indeed a kalma ki chadar, (traditional cloth with proclamation of faith in Islam) as alleged by the Muslim community,” IE stated.

It brings to mind the shocking occurrence in which a woman in Lahore was forced to hide to protect her life because she donned a dress that exhibited the word “halwa” in Arabic calligraphy, which was misinterpreted as Quranic verses by people who announced “Sar tan se juda (behead the blasphemer).” This should be a lesson about the outcome of catering to such fanatics, however, the impact is the opposite for the left-liberal ecosystem in India.

The chargesheet included threats against policemen and Hindus as well as hate slogans uttered during the instance. “The accused were charged under 57 Sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and other laws, including the Explosive Substances Act, 1908, the Arms Act, 1959, and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984. Among those named was prime accused Fahim Shamim Khan. He spent four months in jail before being granted bail,” the piece emphasised.

“His family home was subsequently demolished by authorities citing illegal construction. In January this year, his wife Alisha was elected corporator to the very municipal body that demolished their house. In February, the Nagpur Bench of the High Court directed the corporation to either reconstruct the house or compensate the family,” it added.

It is quite intriguing to note how judicial processes are employed to exonerate politicians who align with a certain ideology, while others, such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, consistently encounter unwarranted criticism despite having received a clean chit from the Supreme Court.

“Prosecution lawyers said the chargesheet against the 13 absconding accused was pending, and that once that was filed, the court would proceed to frame the charges and begin the trial,” the media house stressed. Predictably, defence lawyer Adil Sheikh, claimed that it was submitted in a rush and argued, “The individuals listed are not the actual accused, and there is no valid evidence against them.”

FIR on the members of Hindu organisations

“FIR number 0114/2025 dealt with the alleged burning of the green cloth with verses from the Quran. Officials said the chargesheet in this was ready in June but has not been filed yet as government sanction is awaited,” the piece conveyed. It mentioned that police have cited sections 295A and 153A in the chargesheet, which require approval before putting forward in court.

Section 295A addresses intentional and malevolent actions meant to offend religious sentiments and section 153A covers promotion of animosity between religious groups. DCP Zone III Rahul Madne informed that the state recommended some changes, which were implemented and the documents were resubmitted for clearance, while talking to IE.

“The issue of the alleged burning of the kalma ki chadar was examined during the investigation and the accused booked under relevant sections,” he declared. The Nagpur Police recorded 11 additional FIRs in relation to the rioting, four of which originated from the cyber cell. A chargesheet has been prepared each case, comprising one with allegations similar to sedition against the principal perpetrator, Fahim Khan.

“On 23rd March, Irfan Ansari (38), who was reportedly injured as he got caught between the rioters and police, succumbed to his injuries. One of the 11 FIRs was registered in connection with his death, naming around 40 people, including reportedly one person belonging to the Hindu community,” the article stressed. An advocate highlighted, “Many of the accused in the case are the same as in FIR No. 0115/2025.”

The skill of maintaining perpetual victimhood

“A large black sheet covers the front of Mohammad Ebad’s house near Gandhi Gate. Behind it, where a wall once stood, is the portion demolished by civic authorities after the riots. Nearly 24 members of his extended family, including his 96-year-old father and 86-year-old mother, continue to live inside. The house stands neither intact nor demolished — a structure frozen mid-action,” IE dramatically articulated a claim of injustice, insinuating injustice and wrongdoing.

The Bombay High Court later conveyed that the destruction was not in compliance with the law and told the Nagpur Municipal Corporation to provide the family with compensation.

The piece alleged, “Yet a year on, Ebad says relief has still not come” and quoted him contending, “There has been no assessment of the damage. We submitted an affidavit as asked, but no action has been taken. It has been nearly a year, but there has been no relief.” On the other hand, the corporation pointed out that the matter was sub judice.

The response of the administration might be contested or debated within a democratic framework, however, it is undeniable that Muslim radicals were the aggressors while Hindus were the recipients of their hate.

The vulnerability of the Hindus

The piece eventually decided to narrate the pain of the real victims in an apparent effort to seem impartial. “Just a lane away, in Shirke Galli, residents say some of the worst violence of that night unfolded. A 40-year-old caretaker, who asked not to be named, watched from a window as a mob entered the lane and set fire to her moped,” the piece stated.

She recounted, “It had a sticker of God Ganesha on it. Someone in the mob shouted that it belonged to a Hindu and should be burned.” Galli is a cancer patient and single mother who recently lost her father. She voiced that the experience has affected her both mentally and physically.

According to another person named Sunil Peshne, his house was vandalised and his automobile was wrecked. He expressed, “They burned my car. We had given shelter to six police officers during the riots. The mob got angry about that and then targeted our house.” He is awaiting the installation of CCTV cameras in the lane and added, “If such an incident happens again, at least those responsible can be identified.”

Conclusion

The media platform, in a flagrant act of duplicity that can only be afforded by the liberal allies of Islamists, frantically tried to forge a false equivalence between the bloodthirsty Muslim crowd and Hindu protesters calling for the dismantling of Aurangzeb’s tomb. Even if the claims over the burning of a cloth inscribed with religious text were proven true, does this justify a violent reaction rather than pursuing legal avenues?

Additionally, how is it that one community is allowed to wreak havoc in the name of its religious feelings, while another is denied even the basic right to discuss its offended sentiments and is negatively portrayed if it dares to do so? The extremists had stockpiled petrol bombs for the assault. Hindu residences and vehicles were specifically singled out and struck by them. However, IE is upset about the absence of a chargesheet in relation to a FIR involving members of Hindu groups.

There is a recurring pattern where these unscrupulous individuals are first protected under the pretext of a Muslim area, or even an “inflammatory” film. After such incidents, when the truth is disclosed, the next step is to draw a parallel between them and Hindus just to initiate a protest.

Afterwards, the latter is not only demonised, but the government and authorities are also denounced for not treating them as criminals or for exhibiting leniency. The article is no exception to this left-liberal rule and has attempted to do the same subtly.

Matthew VanDyke, arrested by NIA for training and arming terrorists against India, fought wars that ‘Bellingcat’ sold: Read how the mercenary worked closely with the CIA and MI6 front

Divyansh Tiwari
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Matthew VanDyke, arrested by NIA for training and arming terrorists against India, fought wars that ‘Bellingcat’ sold: Read how the mercenary worked closely with the CIA and MI6 front

The distinction between an independent journalist, a ‘freedom fighter,’ and a Western intelligence asset is not only hazy but deliberately designed to be indistinguishable in the murky world of international espionage. The mask slipped on March 13, 2026. In three airports Kolkata, Lucknow, and Delhi, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India carried out a significant counterterrorism operation that resulted in the arrest of six Ukrainian individuals and an American person called Matthew Aaron VanDyke. Their alleged crime? They were using tourist visas to enter India in order to smuggle European drones and train ethnic insurgency groups in Myanmar across the porous borders of Mizoram.

From the 2011 Libyan civil war against Muammar Gaddafi to the battlefields of Syria and Ukraine, VanDyke is a self-identified documentary filmmaker who, to the uninformed eye, appears to be an eccentric thrill seeker. However, a much darker picture becomes apparent when you follow the breadcrumbs of his two-decade career. VanDyke’s career path is tightly linked to the highest levels of Western intelligence collection, particularly due to his established relationship with Eliot Higgins, the founder of Bellingcat, a reportedly open-source intelligence outlet. Opindia uncovers a historical cover-up by following the thread of VanDyke’s recent arrest in India, revealing Bellingcat as a sophisticated front for the CIA and MI6, as the evidence clearly indicates.

The 2013 Syrian civil war

We need to consider the Syrian Civil War in order to comprehend the design of this intelligence system. The use of chemical weapons in Syria dominated the world’s narrative in 2013. The Western consensus, strongly influenced by mainstream media, placed the responsibility completely on Bashar al-Assad’s regime, paving the stage for international military involvement.

Enter Eliot Higgins, who eventually founded Bellingcat in 2014 while establishing his reputation as an armchair analyst under the pseudonym ‘Brown Moses.’ Higgins presented himself as an impartial, neutral open-source data tracker. However, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s and Cryptome-Wikileaks’ released correspondence presents a quite different image of Higgins’ journalistic integrity.

Private communication between Higgins and Matthew VanDyke was exposed in a crucial press release from the Russian foreign ministry and supported by further archival Cryptome-Wikileaks. Under the cover of his military contracting company, Sons of Liberty International (SOLI), VanDyke was actively working with Syrian rebel groups on the ground at the time. According to the letter, VanDyke told Higgins directly that chemical weapons were in the hands of Syrian rebel groups, not simply the Assad regime. VanDyke’s admission was explosive since he was an operator who was closely associated with these anti Assad forces. The clear cut, binary narrative that Washington and London were attempting to present to the public was squarely at odds with the factual intelligence.

What did Eliot Higgins do with this massive revelation? He buried it.

Rather than researching the rebels’ chemical stockpiles, Bellingcat deliberately withheld this critical information. Rather, the outlet consistently released news accusing the Syrian government of chemical attacks, giving the CIA and MI6 the precise ‘open-source’ rationale they required to demand regime change. In order to preserve a pro-Western narrative, Higgins purposefully concealed VanDyke’s intelligence concerning terrorists using chemical weapons.

Bellingcat: The intelligence cut-out masquerading as independent media

Bellingcat presents itself as an ethical, independent group of researchers motivated by a passion of open-source investigation. The organisation fiercely disputes receiving direct funding from national governments, but it skillfully takes advantage of a loophole, they are more than willing to take money from private foundations or international organizations that are funded by state governments.

In actuality, they are publicly adored by Western intelligence services. Former CIA deputy chief of operations Marc Polymeropolous gushed about the agency and acknowledged that ‘we love this’ in a 2020 Foreign Policy story. Former CIA Chief of Station Daniel Hoffman effectively acknowledged that Bellingcat is a handy cutout for the agency. Because Bellingcat is publicly accessible, the US intelligence establishment may utilize their research to launder information and arm twist foreign governments without having to declassify their own state secrets.

The dark money trail

The independent facade completely disintegrates if you follow the money. Government contractors and well-known regime change fronts provide substantial financial support for Bellingcat’s operations:

  • The Zinc Network: This covert intelligence outlet, which carries out information warfare activities on behalf of the US State Department, USAID, and UK government ministries, gave Bellingcat €160,000.
  • Chemonics: This Washington-based contractor, known for carrying out espionage and destabilisation operations backed by the US government, gave them €5,000.
  • Adam Smith International: This company, which receives hundreds of millions from the UK government for dubious overseas operations, gave Bellingcat more than $65,000.
  • Regime Change Financiers: George Soros’s Open Society Foundation and the CIA-affiliated National Endowment for Democracy (NED) actively support them.

Even its supporters secretly question its legitimacy, despite its prominence as a media darling. Bellingcat is ‘somewhat discredited,’ according to a leaked UK Foreign Office-commissioned analysis, which also noted that the group is ‘willing to produce reports for anyone willing to pay’ and actually publishes false information. 

In addition to recruiting ex-spies, Bellingcat’s drive for regime change has taken quite disturbing turns. Eliot Higgins actively promoted an account called ‘Shami Witness’ as a Syria expert while promoting US intelligence narratives in Syria. Later, Shami Witness was exposed as Mehdi Masroor Biswas, a known ISIS recruiter, and found guilty under Indian anti-terror laws.

Bellingcat: CIA/MI6 Laundromat

The Higgins-VanDyke cover up is unmistakable evidence of a functional operational relationship between desk-bound narrative managers and boots on the ground mercenaries, not just a mistake in journalistic judgment. When intelligence services such as the CIA or MI6 are unable to share sensitive information without exposing their sources, or when they need to manufacture approval for a geopolitical maneuver, a laundering mechanism is required.

This is precisely what Bellingcat does. The outlet can somehow get conclusions that consistently support NATO’s strategic goals by employing ‘open source’ intelligence. Funding for Bellingcat often comes from organisations closely associated with Western statecraft, particularly those recognised as the overt arms of Western intelligence.

Eliot Higgins and Matthew VanDyke are two sides of the same intelligence coin. VanDyke operates in conflict areas with complete impunity as a plausible deniability asset. He freely acknowledges that he advanced to the final levels of CIA recruitment before reportedly failing a polygraph. He coordinates the tangible, on-the-ground realities, such as providing drones, funding operations, and arming rebels. In the meantime, Higgins and Bellingcat oversee the informational battlefield, making sure that any unpleasant facts that assets like VanDyke uncover are cleaned up, repressed, or misrepresented in order to further Western objectives.

The proxy war

VanDyke did not come to India for a spiritual retreat. The NIA claims that he and his six Ukrainian aides were training ethnic rebel groups in Myanmar by transporting cutting-edge European drone technology through Mizoram. These rebel groups have strong ties to anti-India groups that are active in the unstable Northeast.

Why would an American mercenary who is closely associated with Ukrainian foreign fighter networks arrive out of nowhere in India’s backyard? The proxy war approach holds the key to the answer. Western intelligence can cause strategic difficulties for emerging India by inciting instability in Myanmar and the northeastern area of India, thereby guaranteeing the region’s reliance on Western intervention.

Conclusion

Matthew VanDyke’s arrest reflects a turning point. It has exposed a complex ecology in which propagandists masquerading as journalists write history and mercenaries pretending to be filmmakers organise mayhem. The key to understanding this link is still the 2013 Cryptome leak. Eliot Higgins made a calculated move to stifle VanDyke’s information regarding chemical weapons used by rebels. The Anglo-American intelligence organisation frequently uses Bellingcat as its public relations branch. As VanDyke sits in an Indian questioning chamber, the illusion of the self-sufficient Western crusader is ultimately demolished. India has taken a firm stance, refusing to serve as a playground for foreign intelligence operatives.

Crying ‘hate speech’ ahead of Eid after Islamists lynched a Hindu man on Holi: How Harsh Mander-linked APCR’s PIL seeks to shift focus from Tarun’s murder to Muslim victimhood

Jinit Jain
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Crying ‘hate speech’ ahead of Eid after Islamists lynched a Hindu man on Holi: How Harsh Mander-linked APCR’s PIL seeks to shift focus from Tarun’s murder to Muslim victimhood

In the aftermath of the brutal killing of 26-year-old Tarun Kumar in Delhi’s Uttam Nagar during Holi, a familiar pattern has begun to emerge in India’s activist-legal ecosystem. The Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) has approached the Delhi High Court with a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), seeking urgent intervention to curb alleged hate speech against Muslims ahead of Eid. The petition invokes fears of communal unrest, citing inflammatory slogans, social media mobilisation, and apprehensions of violence around the festival period.

At a superficial level, the plea positions itself as a constitutional intervention aimed at preserving communal harmony. However, when examined against the factual matrix of the Uttam Nagar incident and the institutional history of APCR, the move appears less like a neutral rights-based intervention and more like a calibrated attempt at narrative management, one that shifts focus away from the triggering act of violence and toward a selectively constructed discourse of victimhood.

The Uttam Nagar killing: A triggering event reframed

The facts of the Uttam Nagar incident are neither ambiguous nor disputed in their broad contours. During Holi celebrations, an 11-year-old girl from Tarun Kumar’s family threw a water balloon from her terrace, intending to hit her father. The balloon missed its intended target and splashed water on a woman from a neighbouring Muslim family. What followed initially was a verbal altercation, which, according to both police accounts and family statements, was resolved after an apology from the Hindu family.

Ordinarily, such an incident would have ended there, a minor dispute during a festive celebration. However, the situation took a violent turn later in the evening. As Tarun was returning home after celebrating Holi, he was intercepted by a group of 15 to 20 people from the neighbouring community. He was brutally assaulted with iron rods, bricks, and stones. When his family members rushed to save him, they too were attacked. Several people were injured in the clash, including Tarun’s father and uncle. Tarun himself sustained severe injuries and succumbed to them the following day.

The absence of prior enmity between the families underscores the disproportionate nature of the violence. This was not a long-standing feud spiralling out of control; it was a targeted act of retaliation following an accidental and already-resolved incident. The brutality of the assault and the scale of mobilisation involved indicate premeditation rather than spontaneity.

Yet, in APCR’s petition, this sequence is subtly but significantly reinterpreted. The killing is framed as a “local incident” that was later “communalised” through protests and public discourse. By doing so, the petition shifts analytical attention away from the act of violence itself and toward the reactions that followed it. This reframing is not incidental; it is foundational to how the narrative is constructed.

From violence to “Hate Speech”: The strategic pivot

The core of APCR’s petition does not dwell on the killing of Tarun Kumar. Instead, it foregrounds allegations of hate speech, inflammatory slogans, and the mobilisation of protests such as “Akrosh Sabhas.” The petition claims that these developments have created an atmosphere of fear among Muslims, particularly in the run-up to Eid. It refers to slogans allegedly advocating violence, economic boycotts, and even the disruption of Eid celebrations.

In doing so, the petition executes a strategic pivot: it transforms the discourse from one centred on a mob killing to one centred on alleged majoritarian aggression. The causal chain is effectively inverted. The initial act of violence becomes a background detail, while the subsequent reaction is elevated as the primary concern.

This inversion has significant implications. In legal terms, it seeks to reframe the issue before the court, from one of criminal accountability for a killing to one of preventive policing against potential hate speech. In political terms, it repositions the community associated with the perpetrators as the one under threat. And in narrative terms, it aligns the incident with a broader template of minority victimhood that has become a recurring motif in activist discourse.

Litigation as narrative: The use of PILs

Public Interest Litigation in India has historically served as a powerful tool for expanding rights and ensuring accountability. However, it has also increasingly been used as an instrument of what can be termed “narrative litigation,” where the objective extends beyond legal relief to shaping public discourse and institutional perception.

APCR’s petition fits squarely within this framework. By invoking phrases such as “coordinated dissemination of inflammatory content,” “economic boycott,” and “imminent threat,” the plea constructs a sense of urgency and scale that demands judicial attention. The reliefs sought, registration of FIRs, enhanced security, and preventive action, are framed as necessary responses to this constructed threat landscape.

What is noteworthy, however, is the asymmetry in emphasis. While the petition meticulously documents alleged hate speech and apprehensions of violence against Muslims, it does not accord comparable centrality to the killing that triggered the entire chain of events. This selective emphasis suggests that the litigation is not merely about addressing a situation on the ground but about embedding a particular narrative within judicial proceedings.

A track record of selective representation

To understand whether this is an isolated instance or part of a broader pattern, one must examine APCR’s past interventions. The organisation’s report following the 2024 Lok Sabha election results is instructive in this regard. The report claimed a surge in anti-Muslim violence across India and was widely circulated across media platforms. However, several cases cited in the report were later found to have been misrepresented or stripped of critical context.

For instance, the death of Aurangzeb alias Farid in Aligarh was presented as a lynching by a Hindu mob. Subsequent reports, however, indicated that he was caught during a robbery attempt and assaulted in that context. Similarly, a death in Gujarat during a cricket match was framed as communal violence driven by religious tensions, even though police investigations confirmed that the altercation arose from a dispute over bike parking. Other cases, including incidents in Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, were portrayed as targeted killings despite official findings indicating accidents or non-communal causes.

These examples point to a consistent pattern: incidents are curated and presented in a manner that foregrounds religious identity while omitting contextual details that might complicate the narrative. This is not merely a matter of interpretive difference; it reflects a methodological approach that prioritises narrative coherence over factual completeness.

The Sambhal report: Testimony versus forensics

APCR’s collaboration with activist Harsh Mander’s Karwan-e-Mohabbat in producing the report “Sambhal: Anatomy of an Engineered Crisis” further illustrates this pattern. The report, accompanied by a documentary, misrepresented the Sambhal violence as a case of systemic oppression and state overreach against Muslims.

Notably, it downplayed the recovery of foreign-made cartridges from the site of the violence, including ammunition linked to the Pakistan Ordnance Factory. It also did not adequately engage with police findings, indicating that rioters had opened fire on law enforcement personnel and that some deaths occurred due to firing by rioters themselves.

By privileging selective testimonial evidence while marginalising forensic data, the report constructs a narrative that is compelling but incomplete. It reinforces a predetermined conclusion, that of unilateral victimhood, while excluding elements that suggest Islamist mobs were responsible for the waves of violence that followed the court-ordered survey of the Sambhal mosque.

The Ideological ecosystem: Activism, academia, and amplification

APCR’s work does not exist in isolation; it is part of a broader ecosystem comprising activists, academics, and media platforms that collectively shape and amplify specific narratives. Harsh Mander, a central figure in this ecosystem, has long been associated with whitewashing Islamist hate crimes and blaming the majority for violence spurred by Islamic extremists. His organisation, Karwan-e-Mohabbat, has produced multiple reports that advance Muslim victimhood and paper over unpleasant facts about the involvement of Muslim mobs in causing these instances of violence.

Complementing this ‘activist’ dimension is the ‘academic’ engagement of figures such as Delhi University professor Apoorvanand, whose writings and public interventions often frame communal incidents within a broader critique of majoritarian politics and state institutions. Known for his frequent commentary in left-leaning publications, Apoorvanand has repeatedly positioned himself within debates on communalism by critiquing state institutions and framing incidents through the lens of majoritarianism. However, he has often attracted criticism for what appears to be a pattern of selective outrage and rhetorical deflection.

A telling example of this emerged in his remarks concerning Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab. Apoorvanand attempted to cast aspersions on public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam by suggesting that remarks made during Kasab’s trial were intended to “create animosity” against the terrorist. When faced with backlash, instead of clarifying his position, he doubled down by shifting the focus away from the terrorist’s crimes and toward an abstract critique of “society” and political narratives. In doing so, he effectively reframed justified public outrage against a mass murderer as a product of manipulative discourse, thereby trivialising the gravity of the terror attack itself.

This is a classic example of how Islamists, including terrorists like Ajmal Kasab, get a free pass from those who claim to be ‘activists’ and ‘academia’ while their non-Muslim victims get branded as provocateurs and instigators. Together, these actors create a layered discourse in which activist reports are legitimised through academic commentary and then amplified through legal interventions and pliant media coverage.

This ecosystem operates with a degree of coordination, even if informal. Reports generate narratives, academics provide intellectual validation, and litigation seeks institutional endorsement. The result is a self-reinforcing cycle that shapes public perception and policy responses.

The question of asymmetry

One of the most persistent criticisms of this ecosystem is its apparent asymmetry in evaluating communal incidents. Violence involving Muslim perpetrators is often contextualised as reactive, situational, or provoked, while violence involving Hindu actors is framed as systemic, ideological, and indicative of broader societal trends.

In the Uttam Nagar case, this asymmetry is evident in the way the incident is framed. The killing of Tarun Kumar, despite its brutality, is treated as a localised dispute. In contrast, the protests and alleged slogans that followed are elevated as evidence of widespread communal hostility and potential violence against Muslims. This inversion of emphasis effectively shifts the locus of concern from the act of violence to the reaction it provoked.

Such asymmetry has broader implications. It influences not only public discourse but also institutional responses, including policing priorities and judicial interventions. When narratives are constructed in a manner that consistently privileges one perspective over another, it risks undermining the principle of equal justice.

Victimhood as narrative capital

At a structural level, the approach reflected in APCR’s petition can be understood as part of a politics of victimhood. In this framework, the construction and amplification of victimhood narratives become a means of mobilising support, shaping discourse, and influencing institutions.

This process typically involves the selective curation of incidents, the omission of inconvenient details, and the strategic use of legal and media platforms to amplify the narrative. Over time, a feedback loop is created in which reports justify petitions, petitions validate reports, and both are used to reinforce a particular worldview. While advocacy for vulnerable communities is an essential aspect of a democratic society, it must be grounded in a commitment to factual accuracy and consistency. When advocacy becomes selective or instrumentalised, it risks eroding its own credibility.

How APCR exploits media, academia, and litigation to whitewash Islamism

The APCR’s petition before the Delhi High Court is emblematic of a larger contest over narrative control in communal incidents in India. It raises important questions about the role of civil society organisations, the exploitation of litigation as a tool of narrative construction, and the responsibilities of institutions in navigating competing claims.

Ensuring law and order, preventing hate speech, and protecting all communities are legitimate and necessary objectives. However, these goals must be pursued through a balanced and evidence-based approach that does not obscure the origins of violence or privilege one narrative over another. Instead, groups created for vested interests that masquerade as ‘justice-seeking organisations’ use judiciary to advance their personal agendas, often which reverses the roles of aggressors and the victims, and project the Hindu majority as a vindictive community seeking ‘retribution’ from the ‘peaceful’ minorities.

The killing of Tarun Kumar demands accountability on its own terms. It cannot be reduced to a footnote in a broader narrative that shifts focus away from the act itself. If institutions are to retain public trust, they must anchor their responses in facts, fairness, and the rule of law, resisting attempts to turn tragedies into instruments of narrative contestation.

Remember the 2016 Una flogging case? Judgement reveals how ‘victims’ of ‘flogging’ by gaurakshaks didn’t even have broken bones, their lies resulted in death and chaos: Read full details of recent verdict

મેઘલસિંહ પરમાર
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Remember the 2016 Una flogging case? Judgement reveals how ‘victims’ of ‘flogging’ by gaurakshaks didn’t even have broken bones, their lies resulted in death and chaos: Read full details of recent verdict

In the much-discussed Una incident case of 2016, after convicting five accused, the Gir Somnath District Court on Tuesday (17 March) delivered its judgment and pronounced the sentence. All have been sentenced to five years of imprisonment each. Earlier, on Monday (16 March), the court had acquitted 35 accused due to a lack of evidence.

Out of 41 accused, five were found guilty and sentenced to five years each. (One accused died during the trial.) Among the five convicted, four have already served more than five years during the trial. Another accused had served four years and two months. As the court ordered the set-off of the sentence, the remaining convicts will be released from jail, and one will go to prison to serve the remaining sentence.

The court convicted five individuals under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (causing hurt using weapons), 342 (wrongful confinement), 504 (intentional insult), and sections 3(1), (d), 3(1)(e)(r), (s), (u) of the SC/ST Act. However, they were acquitted of charges such as rioting, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy, and outraging the modesty of a woman, as these charges could not be proven.

The remaining 35 accused have been acquitted of all charges. In its order, the court stated that during the trial, their roles could not be clearly established, and no evidence was found against them in witness testimonies. Due to a lack of evidence, these 35 accused were acquitted.

Let us understand in detail what the court said in its judgment, under which charges the sentence was given, and why certain charges were dropped.

The incident did occur, but the role of all the accused except five could not be clearly established: Court

The court stated in its judgment that the incident definitely took place.

Briefly, the incident is that on 11 July 2016, in Mota Samadhiyala village of Una, some members of the Dalit community were skinning a dead cow when the accused arrived, assaulted them, took them away in a car, tied them to a vehicle, stripped them partially, beat them publicly, paraded them, and finally handed them over to the police.

Videos of this incident went viral on social media, after which there were strong reactions across Gujarat and the country. Subsequently, protests were held at many places in the state, organisations of the Dalit community staged demonstrations, and leaders of political parties also reached Una. Jignesh Mevani, who is currently projecting himself as a ‘messiah’ of the Dalit community, along with his associates, also took up this case and held rallies at various places. In this matter, a case was registered at the local police station based on the complaint of victim Vashram Sarvaiya.

Later, some police personnel were also accused of negligence and deliberate omission of certain aspects, due to which four officials, including the local police inspector, were also made accused. The government handed over the matter for high-level investigation. In 2018, the case was transferred to the Gir Somnath District Court, where, after eight years of trial, the judgment was finally delivered on 16 March.

What did the court say in its judgment?

The court held that it is proven that the five accused assaulted the victims and used caste-based abusive language. However, it could not be proven that all 41 accused had formed a pre-planned conspiracy with a common intention to cause unrest at multiple places.

Additionally, the court removed certain charges, including attempted murder, from the accused.

Why was the charge of attempt to murder removed?

While removing IPC 307, the court stated that although injuries were caused to the victims, they were not serious or life-threatening. The court also took on record statements of doctors from different hospitals who treated the victims, who stated that the injuries were caused by pipes and sticks, but were not serious enough to result in death. It was also noted that no fractures were found.

The court noted that complainant Vashram Sarvaiya and three others were first taken to Una hospital for treatment, after which they were referred to Junagadh. However, they did not go to Junagadh and instead went to a hospital in Rajkot. After being discharged from there, they were admitted to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital the next day.

Based on doctors’ statements, the court recorded that none of the four had injuries on any part of the body that could cause a semi-conscious condition.

Further, the court stated: “Thus, the complaint with which these four injured persons went to Rajkot and Ahmedabad hospitals does not appear to have substance, and it appears that they remained admitted in the hospital in the name of treatment, and during this period, as the accused were in judicial custody, it appears that, with the advice of legal experts, they tried to remain under treatment in the hospital for twenty days so that it could be shown during the hearing of the bail application that the injured were under treatment, and an attempt was made to strengthen the protests, demonstrations, and cases registered in society.”

The court further said: “Even regarding the physical complaints for which they went to Ahmedabad, no substance was found, and their intention to get admitted in Ahmedabad Civil Hospital appears to be not for treatment but something else.”

No notification of weapon prohibition found, Bombay Act Section 135 also removed

The court held that the accused had used weapons, but it could not be proven that a notification under Section 135 of the Bombay Police Act was in force at that time. Therefore, Section 135 was removed. However, as it was proven that injuries were caused by dangerous weapons, IPC Section 324 was applied. Additionally, since some injuries were caused without weapons, Section 323 was also applied.

Why was the charge of outraging the modesty of a woman removed?

In the complaint, a woman from the Dalit family had alleged misconduct and caste-based abuse by the accused, due to which IPC Section 354 was added in the FIR. However, during the trial, due to a lack of evidence, the court removed this section.

The court stated that another woman present at the scene did not mention any such incident in her testimony. The sons and husband of the complainant woman had made allegations, but the court noted that such statements might have been made to make the offence appear more serious.

Therefore, the court removed sections 3(1)(W)(1)(2) of the SC/ST Act and IPC sections 354 and 509.

Rioting charges removed

The court also removed IPC sections 146 and 147 (rioting). Under these sections, if an unlawful assembly commits violence with a common objective, every member becomes guilty.

The court stated that while some members of the crowd assaulted the victims, it was not established that all 41 persons had a common intention from the beginning to assault, publicly humiliate, strip, parade, and take the victims to the police station.

The court further noted that initially four persons arrived, and later others came on motorcycles. It stated that people gathered after information spread that cows were being slaughtered, and more people joined during the procession; therefore, it cannot be proven that all had the intention of rioting.

Additionally, under IPC 505(1)(b), causing public fear and disturbance of peace is an offence. The court stated that while the accused may have intended to create fear among those committing cow slaughter, it could not be proven that they had assembled with a pre-planned intention to disturb public peace at multiple places. No evidence was presented to prove this charge; hence, it was removed.

Clean chit to the police

Serious allegations of negligence were made against the police, and four officers were accused. The victims alleged that the police inspector and other officials misused political influence, created false documents, and acted in a way that harmed the complainant and benefited the accused.

However, based on evidence and witness statements, the court held that it could not be proven that any police personnel acted with intent to harm or deliberately neglected their duty, nor was it proven that they created false documents. Therefore, IPC sections 466 and 177 were removed.

The court also noted that ten days after the incident, after the victims had met community leaders, political leaders, and lawyers, additional details were added in statements given to the police, and allegations of police negligence were made for the first time. Later, the investigation was handed over to a DySP, who found no evidence of negligence or tampering with records.

Therefore, the court removed IPC sections 166A, 167, 177, 204, 294(b), 466 and sections 3(2)(6), 3(2)(7) of the SC/ST Act against police officials, stating that the prosecution failed to prove these charges.

Five accused found guilty; maximum punishment awarded, court says crime was heinous

The court stated that only five accused actively participated in the crime, and it was proven that they assaulted the victims, stripped them, and used caste-based insults. Therefore, they were convicted under the IPC and the SC/ST Act provisions. The role of the remaining accused could not be established, nor was any evidence presented against them.

The court awarded the maximum sentence under the SC/ST Act—five years of imprisonment. While sentencing, the court stated that the accused committed a heinous crime and inflicted atrocities on Dalits, which caused mental trauma to others in society; hence, no leniency could be shown.

“The victim did not try to understand the condition of his own community”

However, the court also stated that due to certain exaggerated portrayals by the complainants, the Dalit community was shocked, and consequences were seen, including the death of one person.

The court noted: “The complainant’s father himself went to Girgadhda hospital in an ambulance for treatment, yet after four days he stated that he had become unconscious and regained consciousness in a government hospital. In reality, this did not happen.”

The court further stated: “…Moreover, although the complainant and his brothers were not in a life-threatening physical condition, an attempt was made to portray in society that their condition was critical and could lead to death. Even after recovery, they intentionally got admitted to Ahmedabad hospital and tried through various means of publicity to show the situation as serious. This caused shock in the Dalit community, and 23 individuals attempted self-immolation by consuming poison, out of which one died.”

The court added: “Due to such conduct of the complainant, sensitive members of the Dalit community were provoked to attempt self-harm, and one person died, causing suffering to his family. Other offences were also registered as a consequence. Thus, it appears that the victim himself did not try to understand the pain of others in his own community.”

Arguments of delay in the trial were also rejected

The court also rejected arguments regarding the delay in trial, stating that the complainant himself presented evidence on 12 October 2023, and another witness presented evidence as late as January 2026. Despite this, the complainant publicly claimed across platforms that justice had been denied for years, thereby attempting to harm the reputation of the court.

Libya, Ukraine, Myanmar and more: The work-life of arrested American mercenary Matthew VanDyke aligns precisely with US military and strategic ‘interest areas’ on the global map

Shraddha Pandey
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Libya, Ukraine, Myanmar and more: The work-life of arrested American mercenary Matthew VanDyke aligns precisely with US military and strategic ‘interest areas’ on the global map

The arrest of six Ukrainians and an American mercenary by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has unravelled a massive conspiracy brewing along the India-Myanmar border in silence for years. OpIndia earlier analysed how foreign powers like the US, driven by their religious-geopolitical interest,s have been meddling in the political affairs of Myanmar. The arrest of US mercenary Matthew VanDyke in India and his combat career trajectory align precisely with the US foreign policy priority zones on the global map.

While conventional warfare may never really become obsolete, battles in the present era are more about technological advancements, the usage of drones in the Russia-Ukraine war has demonstrated this, non-state actors, religious-ideological mercenaries, war veterans, and private contractors. These non-state actors, however, are not always disconnected from the ‘state’. They operate as proxies in distant hotspots, pursuing the furtherance of their country’s strategic interests with tacit backing from the government.

The likes of ideologically driven Matthew VanDyke operate as private citizens and NGO founders with combat training, funding and media reach in major strategic hotspots, providing their government with power without accountability. Let’s delve deeper into Matthew VanDyke’s career trajectory to better understand America’s grey-zone proxy model at play.

Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Myanmar: Matthew VanDyke found in combat roles wherever the US pursued regime change pressure, ‘counterterrorism’, backed opposition forces

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1981, Matthew Aaron VanDyke had been a prisoner-of-war in Libya as he had joined the rebellion against Muammar Gaddafi. Before becoming a combatant and trainer in multiple conflicts, VanDyke worked as an adventurer-filmmaker.

VanDyke undertook solo cycling expeditions across North Africa and the Middle East, from Morocco to Syria and Turkey, becoming the only American citizen to cross Libya by motorcycle under dictator Muammar Gaddafi. For some time, VanDyke lived in Iraq, embedded as a war correspondent with American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He also completed a 2010 Iraq-Iran-Afghanistan motorbike trek with photographer Daniel Britt. It was footage from these trips that formed the basis of VanDyke’s award-winning documentary, Point and Shoot (2014). VanDyke was detained over 20 times, all this while in Iraq, and was even accused by Iran of espionage.

VanDyke’s persistent presence in the Middle East stemmed from his interest in understanding and documenting the 2011 Arab Spring. When the Libyan Civil War broke out, VanDyke joined the rebellion against Muammar Gaddafi in addition to filming it. After fighting alongside rebel troops, he was taken prisoner by Gaddafi’s government and held in solitary confinement for almost six months before making his way back to the front lines. VanDyke was paraded by the Gaddafi regime on state television. He was accused of being a CIA-linked American spy and carrying CIA-provided espionage-related equipment.

VanDyke later received a rebel award, ‘Shield of Courage’.

Between 2012 and 2014, Matthew VanDyke stayed in Syria’s Aleppo, wherein he filmed an award-winning short documentary “Not Anymore: A Story of Revolution”. This self-financed documentary was made with the motive to garner global support for anti-Assad rebels. A decade later, the Assad regime fell, only to be replaced by an Islamic terrorist, Ahmed Al-Sharaa.

In 2015, while in Iraq, VanDyke had published a Facebook post wherein he announced his plans to “raise and train a Christian army to fight” ISIS.

The Libyan War formed the ideological basis of VanDyke, who, in 2014, formed the Sons of Liberty International after his friends, American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, were executed by ISIS. Operating as a licensed 501(c)(3) non-profit, SOLI is essentially a private security contracting company.

VanDyke was once interviewed by Newsweek magazine, wherein he said, “After they were killed, I thought about what I could do to have an actual impact on the conflict, and that was sort of the catalyst for starting Sons of Liberty International.”

SOLI claims to provide supplies, military training, and consulting services at no cost to “vulnerable populations” facing terrorist groups and authoritarian regimes. The Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU), an Assyrian Christian group battling ISIS, were trained by SOLI during its first deployments in Iraq.

A significant point to note about VanDyke and SOLI is their unwavering support for Ukraine after Russia started the Special Military Operation 2022. Ever since the war broke out, SOLI has been actively training, advising, and supplying the Armed Forces of Ukraine. VanDyke’s deep military and ideological connection with Ukraine, his open admission to having partaken in America’s regime change operation in Venezuela, and now his arrest alongside six Ukrainian nationals in India, the dots are not too blurry to be connected.

VanDyke’s social media profile, which is more like a digital diary of his activities in various countries, offers an insight into his deep ideological support rooted in his profound belief in Christianity, for the ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) in Myanmar.

Interestingly, VanDyke’s SOLI is also suspected to have been involved in stirring anti-Mullah regime protests in Iran in January 2023. VanDyke’s social media posts from 2019 and 2020 indicate his keen interest in seeing the Iranian Mullah regime fall.

In the Russia-Ukraine war that broke out in 2022, Matthew VanDyke enlisted with the Ukrainian armed forces as a combatant. His organisation, SOLI, has provided military training, counselling, supplies, demining, and battlefield innovations like counter-drone tech to Ukrainian forces against Russia.

As per a 2022 Newsweek report, VanDyke trained Ukrainian civilians for combat roles, working with the Territorial Defence Forces, a military reserve of the Ukrainian army comprised of civilians.

In April 2022, VanDyke started a training programme in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. He told Newsweek about his plans to continue training fighters in Kyiv and in eastern Ukraine, closer to the front lines of Russia’s offensive.

“I can bring in 10 or 20 of my guys, and we can train thousands of Ukrainians very quickly and very competently. And we can also train Ukrainians to become trainers themselves, so that Ukraine can tap into all the manpower it has. Because they’re not allowing men of military age to leave the country, they have a reserve of millions of potential soldiers, but they have no way to train them,” VanDyke told Newsweek.

Ever since his 2024 evacuation from Avdeevka, a heavily shelled frontline city in Russia’s Donetsk Republic, VanDyke has avoided the front lines though not abandoned the covert operations.

In 2025, VanDyke, by his own admission, ran covert operations with a Venezuelan rebel commander since the year 2019 to topple Nicolás Maduro’s regime and ‘restore’ democracy in the typical American style.

“I’ve been running covert operations with a Venezuelan rebel commander since 2019. You’ve read about our missions in the media, such as Operation Aurora, but nobody knew who did it. The Venezuelan team and I agreed to reveal this today. We’ll continue until #Venezuela is free,” he wrote.

Overall, VanDyke’s footprints have been traced in Ukraine, Venezuela, the Philippines, Libya, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Egypt, Tunisia, Mauritania, Morocco, Jordan, Turkey, Spain and now towards Myanmar, through India. In all these countries, America has had significant foreign policy interests, with Ukraine being the highest priority theatre.

Days before his arrest by the NIA, VanDyke had expressed disappointment over the eventualities of America’s regime change operations in Iran and Venezuela. In an X post, VanDyke lamented that in Iran, Ayatollah Syed Ali Khamenei got replaced by his even more hardline son, while in Venezuela, “Maduro replaced by his more competent VP.”

VanDyke’s disdain for foreign regimes he deems hostile and the lengths he would want to pursue to eradicate them can be understood the from his statement, “Just as weak antibiotics cause resistant and stronger bacteria, weak military action causes resistant and stronger regimes. When you strike a regime, you must kill it.”

Reports say that Matthew VanDyke failed a CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) polygraph many years ago. VanDyke is also reported to have denied having links with the CIA; however, it is not too unlikely that a CIA asset would deny having links with the American intelligence agency, especially when his operations in distant but strategically significant hotspots from the American point of view.

VanDyke’s campaign of covert operations in various countries ongoing for over a decade, has been halted by India with his arrest. VanDyke and the six Ukrainian nationals have been booked under Section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for criminal conspiracy to commit illegal or terrorist acts.

The NIA informed the court, while seeking custody of the arrested foreign nationals, that the accused arrived in India on a valid visa, but then they entered the protected area in Mizoram illegally. Eventually, the accused persons entered Myanmar and contacted ethnic war groups hostile to India. The NIA further stated that the arrested Ukrainians and VanDyke were giving training to ethnic armed groups, which have links with insurgent groups in India.

As per the NIA, these ethnic armed groups were “supporting some proscribed Indian Insurgent Groups by way of supplying weapons and other terrorist hardware and training them”.  VanDyke and his accomplices brought a huge consignment of drones from Europe through India. The investigation revealed that all the accused had entered India on valid visas but reached Mizoram without the mandatory Restricted Area Permit (RAP).

What brought VanDyke to Myanmar also aligns exactly with the American interests. Russia and China have been perpetual supporters of the Myanmar military junta, led by Min Aung Hlaing. The junta, Tatmadaw, has also reciprocated the Russia-China backing. Tatmadaw supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine while Moscow had supplied Naypyidaw with fighter jets, drones, and surveillance devices that the Tatmadaw uses against insurgent groups. Russia has also been a reliable oil supplier to Myanmar. It is, thus, in Ukraine’s interest to drain Russia of its resources and weaken Moscow’s allies.

Earlier, the US Congress passed the  Burma Unified through Rigorous Military Accountability Act or simply the BURMA Act. The act was aimed at providing “technical and non-lethal assistance” to “pro-democracy organisations”, including the People’s Defence Force (PDF) and EAOs. Here, the term “non-lethal” does not mean that the US committed not to provide military assistance to anti-junta forces in Myanmar. The Act sufficiently covered a range of military assistance short of arms and ammunition, body armour, uniforms, radars, and medical equipment, etc.

The US also has plans to establish a “massive supply dump” in Bangladesh, to back anti-junta military operations in Myanmar by supplying arms and logistic support to insurgent groups such as the Arakan Army and Chin National Front. Since it is not always feasible to deploy conventional forces, bomb the hell out of a country to topple a hostile regime, as exemplified by what is happening in Iran so far, the US covertly deploys its trained assets and extends financial and logistical support to them to act as a force multiplier in strategic hotspots like Myanmar.

From Libya, Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, Venezuela, to now Myanmar, VanDyke has been operating in the ‘grey zone’ pursuing American geopolitical interests under the guise of his state-ideology “combatting authoritarianism”, without official fingerprints. The locations chosen by VanDyke and the timings have never been random; they track America’s adversaries, be it Russia, ISIS, or Iraq, or hotspots on the global map where the White House seeks leverage.

Western media made a hero out of Matthew VanDyke

Over the past 15 years, Matthew VanDyke has received massive media coverage. Despite VanDyke essentially being an ideological mercenary, his appearances in media headlines and interviews evolved from a sympathetic human-interest story to romanticised idealism, elevation to the status of ‘freedom fighter’ in West-aligned conflicts. Had he been from any country hostile to the West, the same legacy media would have called him a terrorist.

Legacy media outlets, including the New York Times, USA Today, the Baltimore Sun, and MSNBC., among others, portrayed VanDyke as a colourful ‘freedom fighter’ who fills gaps where governments fail. Similarly, several conservative Christian media outlets also glorified VanDyke in their reportage.

VanDyke had told PRNewswire in 2015 that his solitary confinement in Libya deepened his Christian faith.

Vice magazine interviewed VanDyke in 2015 and addressed him as a “freedom fighter’.

In 2016, the History Channel did a proper web series titled “The Freedom Fighter” on Matthew VanDyke, glorifying his combat shenanigans and calling him an ‘International Security Expert’.

In more recent years, Newsweek magazine described VanDyke as an “experienced former POW”.

Overall, the Western legacy media as well as Christian media outlets remained consistently fascinated by Matthew VanDyke’s dramatic career arc, describing his journey as that of a ‘traveller’ ‘, journalist’, ‘filmmaker’ who eventually became a ‘combatant’, ‘professionalised private operator’ but never labelled what he truly has been, an ideological Christian mercenary.

The media coverage and his own sophisticated social media presence helped Matthew VanDyke gain legitimacy and even fundraising, turning his personal dream of working with the CIA and raising a Christian army into a durable public brand. All was going smoothly until VanDyke picked India as the gateway for his Myanmar mission of backing Christian armed groups against the Russia-China-backed Tatmadaw.

It is, however, pertinent to understand that ideological mercenaries like VanDyke are not unique to America or Ukraine, where a neo-Nazi problem persists, but countries like China also have their mercenaries furthering its interests in countries like Sudan.

In fact, in Myanmar’s case, if there are allegations that the US is trying carve out a separate Kuki-Chin Christian nation comprising areas from India’s Northeast, Bangladesh and Myanmar, speculations are also rife that China might be planning to create a security buffer, it not a separate nation in the WESEA (Western South East Asia) region, which comprises parts of India’s Northeast and Western Myanmar.

“Only bones were thrown into the Ganga, Hindus immerse ashes”: How the left-liberal ecosystem is defending the actions of Muslim youths, with Congress calling it ‘iftar’

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“Only bones were thrown into the Ganga, Hindus immerse ashes”: How the left-liberal ecosystem is defending the actions of Muslim youths, with Congress calling it ‘iftar’

A video has surfaced from the Varanasi district of Uttar Pradesh showing some Muslim youths holding an iftar party on a boat in the Ganga river while consuming non-vegetarian biryani. Taking cognisance of the video, BJP metropolitan youth president Rajat Jaiswal filed an FIR. The police acted and arrested 14 people. Now, Congress and the left-liberal ecosystem have come out in defence of these Muslim individuals.

Congress leaders did not find anything wrong with consuming non-vegetarian biryani in the Ganga River, which is considered sacred in Sanatan Dharma. Instead, they began questioning the faith of Hindus. Congress leader Supriya Shrinate asked what law these Muslim individuals had broken. She questioned what their “sin” was and, in doing so, raised broader questions about the direction in which society is heading.

However, she herself conceals what many consider the core issue. According to her, it was merely an iftar party, which every Muslim has a religious right to observe during the month of Ramadan. But she omits the fact that non-vegetarian food was being consumed in the sacred Ganga river, and even chewed bones were thrown into its waters. This act reportedly took place right in front of the Bindu Madhav temple.

Congress, which is justifying this by calling it an iftar party, appears to be ignoring even Islamic viewpoints, as some clerics themselves have criticised the act. S.M. Yasin, joint secretary of Anjuman Intezamia Masajid in Varanasi, condemned it, stating that iftar is a religious act, not a picnic. He also emphasised that Maghrib prayers should be offered immediately after iftar.

Congress is accused of selectively hiding facts because acknowledging them would reveal that the act may have been deliberate. Critics argue that this could be an attempt to project secularism. At the same time, they question why Congress does not raise similar concerns in other cases, such as the killing of a Hindu youth named Tarun in Uttam Nagar, Delhi, or incidents where religious sensitivities are cited over relatively minor issues.

Some commentators have questioned why throwing bones into the Ganga is being treated as an offence while immersion of ashes is considered acceptable.

Wasim Akram Tyagi, associated with Islamist commentary, asked what the crime was: eating chicken biryani on a boat or throwing bones into the river. He further questioned whether, by that logic, immersion of ashes, cremation ghats along the river, or even carnivorous aquatic life should also be considered problematic.

Faith, the Ganga, and the difference between ashes and bones

In the Varanasi case, the issue is not with Muslims holding an iftar party per se; the objection arises from the consumption of meat in the Ganga river under the guise of such a gathering. In Hinduism, the Ganga is not merely a river; it is the holiest of rivers, revered and worshipped as a living goddess. It is believed to cleanse sins, grant moksha (liberation), and sustain life itself.

Across the Vedas, Puranas, Ramayana, and Mahabharata, the Ganga is described as a divine river. According to tradition, it descended from heaven to earth through the penance of King Bhagirath, with Lord Shiva bearing its force, to grant salvation to the 60,000 sons of King Sagar. Bathing in its waters is believed to purify the soul and accrue spiritual merit. In Sanatan Dharma, Ganga jal is indispensable in rituals, consecration, and purification, while grand religious events like the Kumbh Mela are held on its banks. It is, therefore, venerated as life-giving Mother Ganga.

The practice of immersing ashes in the Ganga also carries deep theological significance. As described in the Garuda Purana, immersing the remains after cremation is believed to help the departed soul attain moksha, heaven, or Brahmaloka. Since the Ganga is considered to have descended from the heavens, it is believed to liberate ancestral souls and break the cycle of rebirth.

These beliefs form the core of Hindu reverence for the Ganga. It is within this framework that the distinction between immersing ashes and discarding bones or food waste becomes crucial. One is a sacred rite rooted in centuries of religious tradition; the other is seen as an act of disregard toward those very sentiments. This distinction explains why the incident in Varanasi, where a non-vegetarian iftar gathering reportedly involved such actions, is perceived by many as hurtful to religious sensibilities.

Law, restraint, and selective outrage

The depth of Hindu faith in the Ganga is widely understood across India. This makes actions perceived as disrespectful in such spaces particularly sensitive. If such acts are not seen as deliberate provocations, it raises legitimate questions about intent. It is worth asking: would a Hindu engage in religious practices inside a mosque in a similarly insensitive manner? Such parallels are often invoked to highlight perceived asymmetries in public discourse.

Critics argue that sections of Congress and the broader left-liberal ecosystem selectively frame such incidents, questioning the legal basis of action while overlooking the cultural and religious context. This, they contend, creates an impression that secularism is applied unevenly, asserted strongly when Hindu concerns are involved, but diluted when addressing similar expectations from others.

At the same time, it is important to note that the response in this case followed a constitutional route: a complaint was filed, the police took cognisance, and arrests were made in accordance with due process. This underscores a key point often highlighted in such debates, that grievances, even when rooted in faith, are pursued through legal mechanisms rather than extrajudicial means.

Yet, critics maintain that the same voices that invoke religious freedom in this context often remain muted on instances of violence carried out in the name of religious extremism. This perceived inconsistency continues to fuel the larger debate around secularism, rights, and responsibilities in a plural society.

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