- India’s Yati Narsinghanand sparks outrage after vowing to “eradicate Islam”.
- His remarks expose how hate speech is being normalised under Hindutva politics.
An Indian hate preacher and the head priest of the Dasna Devi Temple, Yati Narsinghanand, has taken to a temple gathering held in Ghaziabad to declare that Islam must be “eliminated from the earth”, calling it a “cancer” and a threat to humanity. Referring to New York’s election of Zohran Mamdani, he said:
“After London, New York’s mayor has become a Muslim from India, whose mother is Hindu and whose wife is Hindu. This means it is the time of great destruction. I assure all of you that we will eliminate this cancer from the earth. Islam will not remain, only Sanatan Dharma will remain. Neither Muhammad nor anyone who takes Muhammad’s name will remain.”
Narsinghanand, who is already facing over two dozen criminal cases including those for hate speech, abetment to suicide and incitement to violence, has long been known for his anti-Muslim rhetoric. He was previously arrested in 2022 for openly calling for violence against Muslims at a Haridwar event. Prominent Muslim leaders condemned his remarks, accusing the government of shielding habitual offenders for political utility. Navaid Hamid, former president of the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, said:
“These people have nothing to do with religion. They only want to disturb the peace of the country through their hate speeches. The current government is providing guardianship and security to these people”.
Mohammed Ahmed of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind added that despite repeated appeals, no effective action has been taken. “The elections were held in New York City, but these people are disturbing peace in India”, he said. Other commentators have added that “a Muslim’s democratic victory in New York becomes a trigger for genocidal language”.
This disturbing Islamophobic trend is not confined to India. Across much of the US and UK, populist movements have found new strength by turning Muslims, who are a minority group, into convenient scapegoats. From attention seekers like Ryan Williams, who appeared on Sky News Australia while wearing T-shirt lined with bacon purely to offend Muslims, to MAGA politician Valentina Gomez, who in her broken English made a fiery spectacle of burning the Quran and even attended a Muslim rally, wearing a hijab before dramatically ripping it off on stage and yelling Islamophobic tropes at the Muslim crowd.
The rise of Islamophobia isn’t emerging in a vacuum. Public stunts that provoke Islamophobia offer rapid fame, so performative bigotry becomes a shortcut to notoriety and income. In the political sphere, it’s manufactured and maintained because it’s useful. When leaders or parties have no tangible solutions to rising inequality, inflation or corruption, they redirect frustration toward a visible “other”. By painting Muslims as a threat, to safety, identity or national purity, politicians give the public a target to rally against. This tactic replaces shared purpose with shared resentment. It’s far easier to unite people around fear than around reform, because fear requires no evidence – just repetition. So, Islamophobia becomes an emotional shortcut that maintains loyalty to power without accountability while simultaneously used as a weapon to intimidate Muslims.
Yet, Zohran Mamdani’s election as New York’s first Muslim mayor stands as a counter-narrative. He ran a grassroots campaign focused on hope, pledging to make housing affordable, strengthen workers’ rights and ensure dignity for every resident. Despite relentless Islamophobic attacks, online and abroad, his message of inclusivity resonated across the city.
Conservative broadcaster Megyn Kelly mocked him as “a phony, a wolf in sheep’s clothing” claiming that “the working class can’t stand you”. Yet election data told a different story – Mamdani won decisively across all demographics, with support from working-class immigrants, young progressives and elderly voters alike, including an 83-year-old Jewish woman who told Zeteo:
“I noted not only Zohran’s commitment to justice but also how he treated me, an elderly Jewish activist, like I was his own nani (grandma).”
Whatever the motives of the Hindu priest, hate remains the easiest refuge for the powerless – a weapon for those who cannot inspire so they resort to division. But Mamdani’s victory shows what leadership built on dignity truly looks like, proving that politics can unite around shared needs rather than shared enemies, hate and fear-mongering.
