Call it the ‘Mohammad Deepak effect’

There’s resistance in a state where a saffron scarf is a licence to assault — or even kill. Where a complaint from a BJP functionary is enough to get a headmaster suspended. Where universities prevent students from entering their own campuses but unnumbered vehicles bearing armed Hindutva hoodlums can roll in unchecked. Where Muslims can be arrested for offering Friday prayers inside a vacant house, even with permission.

There’s resistance in the state where Muslims are arrested for the slightest whiff of criticism in their social media posts. Call it the ‘Mohammad Deepak effect’, or call it the Allahabad High Court effect, reports coming in from Mathura, Allahabad, Varanasi — even Jaipur — suggest that the people are pushing back.

In a primary school in Mathura, headmaster Jan Mohammad has been reinstated — but only after the village panchayat of 20,000 people took to the streets. Locals rose above caste and religion and stood up to the ruling party’s MLA and his associates. Teachers protested, students rallied behind their headmaster, and over 300 villagers went to meet the district magistrate. A former MLA testified in his support.

Only then did the administration relent. The children say their headmaster is excellent, fair and just. But in the eyes of a BJP leader, the integrity of this Muslim — who had spent 12 years in the paramilitary forces — had become intolerable.

Shyamsundar Sharma, eight-time former MLA from Mant in Mathura district, says that during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), Jan Mohammad served as a booth-level officer. Sharma alleges that BJP legislator Rajesh Chaudhary handed Jan Mohammad a list of voters. When Jan Mohammad refused to delete any names, the MLA allegedly threatened him: “You better watch out.”

Jan Mohammad reportedly replied, “Either way I’m dead, so why not die doing the right thing?” Soon after, Durgesh Pradhan, BJP president of Bajna mandal of Mant and resident of Nausherpur, filed a complaint against him.

The complaint alleged that at Nohjheel Primary School No. 1 — where Jan Mohammad is the only Muslim teacher with five Hindu assistant teachers and two shiksha mitras on his staff — the headmaster lured children towards Islam, brainwashed them into offering namaz and insulted Hindu deities. It accused him of calling Hinduism inferior and of carrying out ‘suspicious activities’ to propagate Islam.

It further claimed that he did not conduct the national anthem in the mornings and discouraged children if they tried to sing it. Also, Muslim clerics and members of the Tablighi Jamaat were frequent visitors to the school to pressure children and their families to adopt Islam.

On the basis of this complaint, the administration suspended Jan Mohammad within 24 hours — without any investigation — despite his 17 years of service. The suspension order, issued on 31 January by district basic education officer Ratan Kirti, said he appeared prima facie guilty of neglecting official duties and violating the Government Servants’ Conduct Rules, 1999. He was attached to another primary school in Mant block, and a two-member inquiry committee was formed and given one month to report.

Public protest changed the course of events. On 3 February, the administration curtailed the inquiry period to three days. By 6 February, after recording written statements from students, parents, teachers and locals, the committee found none of the allegations were substantiated. Jan Mohammad was reinstated — with full pay.

Intervention by local residents, teachers’ unions and public representatives forced the education officer to reconsider. Yet Jan Mohammad fears reprisal. He does not wish to speak to the media and says he doesn’t want any politics in his name. He’ll fight his own battles, he says. But local resident Devdutt Pathak has a different take: “If people hadn’t stood by him, he wouldn’t have been reinstated.”

Meanwhile, 15 Supreme Court advocates have stepped forward to support Mohammad Deepak, who defended Wakeel Ahmed — the elderly owner of the shop 'Baba Dresses' in Kotdwar, Uttarakhand — from Bajrang Dal hooligans.

After a 26 January clash where Deepak’s family was abused by Hindutva hoods from Dehradun, Deepak’s gym saw a drastic drop of members from 150 to 15. Social media users launched a campaign, encouraging people in Kotdwar to join his gym. A handle (@avidandiya) pledged to sponsor one month’s membership for the first 100 people.

By 17 February, the tweet had garnered 344 replies, over 1,900 retweets and 10,000 likes. Public figures amplified similar posts. On 8 February, CPI(M) parliamentary leader John Brittas met Ahmed and Deepak in Kotdwar. Brittas toured the gym and took a membership.

Other advocates followed, taking gym memberships and offering pro bono legal help. While Mohammad Deepak has paid a price for standing against hate — the people are standing with him.

Soon after the Kotdwar incident, Abdul Jabbar, who runs Pundir Tailors in Dehradun, was harassed by Bajrang Dal members. That video also circulated widely. When local media visited the shop, locals called Jabbar a decent man and condemned the hooligans.

On 14 February, Valentine’s Day, a video emerged from Jaipur. Young men wearing saffron scarves and carrying sticks were seen roaming in a park, threatening couples, demanding to know their religion and relationship. Some youths surrounded the vigilantes and asked: Who gave you the right to bully? Are you the police? Show your ID. Which organisation do you belong to? Who is your leader? The men had no answers, except, “Can’t you see our scarves? We’re from the Bajrang Dal.” Feeling the heat from the young people, they fled.

Dr Medusa — known for her scathing satire of the Modi regime and its politics of hate — wrote on X that the video healed something inside her she hadn’t realised was broken. ‘First Mohammad Deepak… and now this. Is the country truly healing—or am I being naïve?’

From Varanasi came a video of vigilantes descending on a 60-year-old bakra mandi (goat market) to ‘check’ vendors’ licences. Abdullah, legal advisor of the local Goat Meat Union, said their aim was to target livelihoods and vitiate the atmosphere by spreading rumours of cow slaughter. A dozen men posing as officials demanded licences but the locals united, demanded their ID cards and forced them to turn tail.

Resident Adil Khan said thousands depend on the registered market, which operates daily from 7.00 am to 2.00 pm, and is well known to the police. After inspection, authorities confirmed that no cow slaughter had occurred.

At Allahabad University, students associated with the Disha Students’ Organization, paid the price for their activism. The cultural group organises film screenings, study circles and discussions around youth issues. The group had already drawn attention for a song sung by Disha member Priyanshu — 'Kaho Narender, mazaa aa raha? (So Narender, are you having fun?)' — that went viral on social media.

Following the Supreme Court stay on the new UGC regulations, Disha organised an event to debate the pros and cons. Around two dozen people were present at Bargad Lawn in the Arts Faculty of Allahabad University, when an unruly mob of 40-odd arrived, reportedly led by Bhavesh Dubey, a leader of the RSS-aligned Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

A Bajrang Dal vehicle entered the campus. The men called out a postgraduate student, Chandraprakash, grabbed his collar and assaulted him. When others intervened, they were abused with casteist slurs and beaten. Female students were allegedly dragged by their hair and kicked. The university administration watched silently. Several students, including Nidhi, Sanjay, Pooja, Soumya and Chandraprakash were seriously injured.

The victims do not dismiss the possibility that their viral song made them targets. When more students gathered, the attackers fled. The proctor also arrived but allegedly let the attackers escape and took the victims to his office instead.

The administration has suspended Nidhi and Bhavesh Dubey and issued show-cause notices. A complaint has been filed, but police say they won’t register an FIR till the university report comes in.