Viral video targets Additional District and Sessions Judge Tabassum Khan, warns of ‘massacre’ if convicts are not released in ten days
SURAT — A man from Surat in Gujarat has threatened mass violence against Muslims in a viral video after a court sentenced 14 men to life imprisonment for lynching a Muslim man in Madhya Pradesh, police said.
The video surfaced after Additional District and Sessions Judge Tabassum Khan last week delivered the verdict in Seoni Malwa, Narmadapuram district. The court convicted the 14 men for the 2022 mob killing of Nazir Ahmad and assault on two others over alleged cattle smuggling.
The convicts were identified as Deepak alias Baba Kevat, Ajay alias Ajju Rathore, Prakash Kaushal, Chetan Maratha, Pawan Bathav, Amar alias Bhola Bathav, Kanhaiya Bathav, Devendra alias Chhotu Kori, Sandeep alias Raja Kaushal, Anuj alias Ballu Raghuvanshi, Sanju alias Rajendra Kaushal, Akash alias Pintoli Bathav, Gaurav Yadav, and Akash Sarathe.
In the clip, the man, identified as Vishal Singh, addresses Judge Khan using a communal slur and says: “If our 14 brothers are not released within 10 days, there will be a massacre across the country.”
Police said they have taken cognizance of the video. The remarks drew criticism online, with users calling it an incitement to communal violence and intimidation of the judiciary.
The trial lasted three years. The court ruled the prosecution proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused participated in the assault that killed Ahmad and injured two others.
Several netizens expressed alarm over the threat directed at a sitting judge. One user wrote, “When a Muslim judge is openly threatened by Hindu goons, what hope is left for ordinary citizens?”
Another user wrote, “Judge Tabassum sentenced criminals for killing a Muslim. Here is a Hindu abusing the judge and threatening violence if those arrested are not released. But as per Kiren Rijiju (Minister of Minority Affairs), Muslims are safe in India.”
While other users criticised the official silence over the matter and wrote, “A Hindu extremist is threatening a judge because she is Muslim and sentenced those convicted of killing innocent Muslims in the name of cow protection. The government is silent. The police are silent.”
People have also expressed concern that the remarks appeared to target Judge Tabassum Khan indirectly, with the speaker pointing to her religious identity, while attacking the verdict. Critics argue that such rhetoric risks undermining confidence in the judicial process and fuels religious polarisation.
Calls have grown for authorities to investigate the video and determine whether the remarks violate laws related to hate speech, criminal intimidation and incitement to violence.
