The Uttarakhand hero said he has stopped receiving the threats he had been getting earlier
NEW DELHI — ‘The Mohammad Deepak effect’ continues to spread far and wide, nearly a month after a Hindu youth, Deepak Kumar, confronted a Hindutva mob threatening a 70-year-old Muslim shopkeeper in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal.
On Monday, Mohammad Deepak met Congress stalwart and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, with the latter assuring him that he would soon visit his gym. After the meeting, the Uttarakhand hero said Rahul has assured him that he would visit Kotdwar soon and join the gym run by him.
On January 26, Deepak, 38, stood up to a group of Hindutva men who were harassing the Muslim shopkeeper, who has Parkinson’s disease, to drop the word “Baba” from his shop’s name in Kotdwar town. During the confrontation, when asked his name, he told the crowd it was ‘Mohammad Deepak’. After the incident, the Hulk Gym, run by Deepak, saw its membership collapse from 150 to 15.
In Uttar Pradesh, a group of Hindu youths on Sunday formed a protective chain around Muslims offering prayers after the main gate of the historic Lal Baradari complex, which houses a mosque, was locked and barricaded by the Lucknow University administration. While Muslim students offered prayers outside the sealed gate, Hindu students stood behind them holding hands, forming a protective chain in a rare display of unity that has since drawn wide attention on social media.
In New Delhi, speaking to reporters after meeting Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi, Deepak said, “Rahul Ji had called me, and he spoke to my family and me. Whatever has happened… He spoke to me about it and assured us. He has said I’ve done nothing wrong and that what I did was good. He has also said that he will visit Kotdwar and will take membership in my gym.”
Deepak said that Gandhi assured him and told him not to worry about anything. “He praised me for what I did… I will be very happy if Rahul Ji comes to my gym and works out there.”
Deepak also said he has stopped receiving the threats he had been getting earlier.
After media reports claimed that Deepak’s gym had taken a hit, senior advocates of the Supreme Court stepped up to help sustain Deepak Kumar’s livelihood.
In a post on Instagram, Gandhi described Deepak as a “hero of India” and a “living symbol of mohabbat ki dukaan”.
Sharing a photograph from the meeting on Instagram, Gandhi wrote, “Every human being is equal. This is Indianness, this is the shop of love. Meeting with Uttarakhand’s brother ‘Mohammad Deepak such a flame of unity and courage should burn in every Indian youth.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/DVF3pSQAqDq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
Earlier in a post on X, Gandhi alleged that the BJP and the Sangh Parivar were undermining the Constitution. He praised Deepak for standing up for constitutional values and humanity, calling him “a living symbol of ‘mohabbat ki dukaan’ in a marketplace of hate.”
The Congress leader has frequently used the phrase “mohabbat ki dukaan” to describe his party’s ideological positioning against what he terms divisive politics.
