Several right-wing outfits and BJP leaders call for the exclusion of Muslims from public spaces—spreading dangerous communal hatred and marginalising them through false propaganda and inflammatory speeches
NEW DELHI – A growing wave of hate speech and anti-Muslim campaigns, openly encouraged by several right-wing Hindu leaders, is causing deep concern across the country. The latest episodes involve discriminatory demands to ban Muslims from public parks and women’s beauty parlours in Uttar Pradesh, in a trend that reflects the rising influence of Hindutva ideology on everyday social spaces.
The fire of religious hatred, once confined to online trolling and WhatsApp forwards, is now spreading to parks, temples, and even beauty salons—places once seen as neutral grounds. The hate is no longer just virtual. It has become physical, dangerous, and deeply personal.
In Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly, a shocking incident occurred during a recent Ram Navami celebration in a public park. Muslim youths who had entered the park were chased away by members of Hindu groups, who accused them of disturbing Hindu women.
“They came here to do love jihad,” one man is seen shouting in a video that has gone viral. “This park is not for them. Hindu women are here. They must leave.”
The video, filled with disturbing threats and communal slurs, drew widespread criticism online but drew no action from local authorities.
“This is not just hate speech,” said Maulana Arshad Madani, a senior Muslim cleric. “This is hate action. When young Muslims are being physically thrown out of parks for simply being Muslim, where is the law and order?”
Social media users also expressed outrage. “What kind of country are we becoming?” asked activist Sakina Ali in a post. “We are witnessing a public apartheid against Muslims, and no one in power is stopping it.”
In a separate but equally disturbing development, Pandit Dinesh Sharma Falahari, a self-styled religious leader and the president of Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Sangharsh Nyas, has written to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath demanding a ban on Muslim youths working in women’s beauty parlours in the Mathura-Vrindavan area.
His claims are deeply rooted in Islamophobic stereotypes.
“Muslim boys enter beauty parlours pretending to cut hair and slowly touch Hindu girls,” Sharma alleged. “They brainwash them and trap them in love jihad. Later, they marry them in court and sell them in other cities.”
He went on to claim that these alleged incidents were funded by “Muslim organisations” and demanded strict action against any parlour employing Muslim men.
“These are not beauty parlours, they are terror parlours,” Sharma declared in a statement that has drawn sharp condemnation from civil society groups and women’s rights activists.
Shockingly, the hate campaign didn’t stop there.
Yugeshwari Devi, who calls herself “Ram ki Dasin,” echoed Sharma’s false narrative, saying: “Earlier, these boys used to roam around schools, now they are entering beauty parlours. Hindu girls must not trust them.”
Another religious leader, Mahamandaleshwar Ramdas Maharaj, added fuel to the fire with his bigoted remarks: “If makeup is needed, get it done only by Sanatani Hindus. These Muslim boys eat meat and do black magic.”
Such language, once confined to fringe groups, is now being amplified by mainstream religious voices in the name of protecting Hindu women—a tactic long used to control both gender and communal boundaries.
The disturbing part of this growing campaign is how it is being framed—not as open hatred but as “protection” of Hindu women and culture. This narrative dangerously echoes the same logic used by supremacist groups across history: painting minorities as a threat to women, culture, and religion.
But Muslim voices are pushing back.
“Love jihad is a political lie,” said Prof Amina Bano from Aligarh Muslim University. “It is a tool to criminalise Muslim men and control Hindu women. These people don’t care about love or religion—they care about control.”
Shabnam Jahan, a beauty parlour owner in Bareilly, called the campaign “a direct attack on livelihood and dignity.”
“Most of the boys who work in parlours are trained professionals from poor families,” she said. “They treat their clients with respect. This hate is destroying their future.”
Activists say the hate is no longer just rhetoric—it is turning into economic and social exclusion. Muslim workers in Mathura and Bareilly say they have already started facing informal boycotts.
Zakir Hussain, a 23-year-old hairstylist, said his employer recently asked him to stop coming to work “until things calm down.”
“Calm down?” Zakir asked with disbelief. “What did I do? I just cut hair. But I’m a Muslim, and now that’s enough to make me a threat.”
Such stories are becoming all too common. In many small towns, Hindu groups are calling for a boycott of Muslim shopkeepers, workers, and even street vendors.
“This is not just communal tension,” said political analyst Sharfuddin Qasmi. “This is a systematic campaign to isolate Muslims economically, socially, and emotionally.”
Perhaps the most disturbing element in all this is the complete silence from the BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh. Despite repeated calls for action, no FIRs have been lodged against those making inflammatory statements. No warnings, no legal consequences.
“The silence is not neutral—it is political,” said journalist Rana Ayyub. “When the state refuses to act against hate, it is encouraging it.”
Human rights organisations, including Amnesty International India, have raised alarms.
“In any democratic society, this level of open religious discrimination should lead to arrests and swift action. The Indian government must step in before things spiral out of control,” Amnesty said in a statement.
Many observers see these incidents not as isolated but as part of a larger Hindutva agenda—a push to define India as a Hindu-only nation, excluding minorities from public life.
The idea is simple but dangerous: create fear, manufacture threats, and then offer “protection” as a solution.
“This is not about parks or parlours,” said writer Arif Anwar. “It’s about rewriting who belongs in India. And for these leaders, Muslims do not.”
Despite the growing hate, there are voices of sanity. In Mathura, a group of young Hindu and Muslim friends jointly held a press meeting, calling for peace and unity.
“Do not divide us,” said one of them, Priya Sharma. “We grew up together, we studied together, and now we are being told to hate each other. We refuse.”
Similar sentiments were echoed by Junaid Khan, a youth activist from Bareilly: “This is our country too. We are not outsiders. We are citizens, and we will fight this hate with love.”
The growing normalisation of hate speech against Muslims—especially targeting their employment, identity, and mobility—must be called out not just by citizens but also by the media, the judiciary, and the government. The silence from political leaders, especially those in power, is not just dangerous—it is deadly.
As India moves forward, the real question is: Will it be a country for all, or only for some?
“When you push a community out of parks and parlours today, you push them out of the nation tomorrow,” warned Dr Kaleem Ahmad, a sociologist. “History is watching. And so are we.”
