- A Hindutva mob verbally abused and harassed a Muslim shopkeeper and his elderly father in Uttarakhand.
- The harassment was halted when a Hindu man named Deepak, intervened and challenged the mob. He has since received backlash from the Hindutva.
Deepak, a local Hindu gym trainer, intervened after a Hindutva mob began hurling abuse and harassing an elderly Muslim shopkeeper in a busy marketplace. The mob had taken issue with the word “Baba” in the name of the Muslim man’s store. “Baba is a word used for Hindus only,” the thugs exclaimed. The confrontation unfolded at ‘Baba School Dress and Matching Centre,’ a small, decades-old shop run by the family of Shoaib Ahmed in Kotdwar, Uttarakhand.
On January 26, 2026, four Hindu extremists entered Ahmed’s shop. They allegedly identified themselves as Bajrang Dal members and issued a stern ultimatum to change the shop’s name or face “dire consequences”. They allegedly intimidated and threatened Ahmed, saying the result would not be good if the name ‘Baba’ was not removed, Ahmed stated in his FIR complaint.
What started as verbal intimidation quickly escalated into a public confrontation. Wakeel Ahmed, the elderly father of the shop owner, was questioned and asked to justify both the shop’s name and his right to run it. As voices grew louder and the crowd thickened, the atmosphere turned increasingly hostile.
Ahmed identified two of the alleged harassers as Gaurav Kashyap and Shakti Singh Gonsai.
As Shoaib Ahmed and his son tried to reason with the mob, Deepak stepped in, refusing to remain a silent spectator. Challenging the group, he reminded them that Muslims are equal citizens of the country and do not need to justify their identity or livelihood. When members of the mob demanded to know who he was to defend the shopkeeper, Deepak responded calmly but firmly: “My name is Deepak Muhammad.”
Deepak’s family name is Kumar. Many have seen his deliberate choice of name as a rejection of the idea that Muslims and Hindus cannot live together harmoniously. Deepak was accompanied by his friend Vijay Rawat. Rawat later spoke against the atrocities he had witnessed.
A video of the incident was uploaded to X and went viral within hours. Netizens Muslims praised Deepak for his courage and for standing up against the harassment of an elderly Muslim man.
Wakeel Ahmed expressed gratitude to those who stood by his family, emphasising that communal harmony has long defined the neighbourhood.
Deepak Kumar later released a video message urging people to reject hatred and resist religious intimidation against Muslims. He warned that targeting individuals based on their faith weakens the social fabric of the country and stressed that humanity must come before identity.
Deepak was later harassed by Hindutva Extremists
On Saturday, a large group of Bajrang Dal workers arrived outside Deepak Kumar’s gym in the presence of police, demanding that he come outside.
In a video recorded during the incident, the workers were heard saying, “The man who calls himself ‘Mohammad Deepak’ has now shut his gym and fled… If he has the courage, he should come outside. He chased away unarmed Bajrang Dal workers. We are now standing in his city, yet he has run away. If he loves Muslims, then he should wear a skull cap and become a Muslim.”
Deepak has shown remarkable bravery when many choose silence over justice.
Harassment against Muslims, hate speech targeting them, mob violence, lynchings of Muslims and cow vigilantismcontinue to surface across Uttarakhand and India.
