Maktoob Staff
 
 

“I am not a Hindu, I am not a Muslim, I am not a Sikh, and I am not a Christian. First and foremost, I am a human being. Because after I die, I have to answer to God and to humanity, not to any religion,” says Deepak Kumar, a 46-year-old gym owner from Uttarakhand’s Kotdwar, looking directly into his phone camera in a video that has since travelled far beyond his town.

Deepak has been receiving threats ever since he publicly intervened to protect a Muslim shopkeeper from harassment by members of Bajrang Dal, a Hindutva outfit. On Saturday, a Hindutva mob gathered outside his home, forcing the police to step in. Despite the intimidation, Deepak has refused to retreat. “I will not back down,” he told news outlets.

The chain of events that turned Deepak into a target began on India’s Republic Day, January 26. He was standing at a friend’s shop when he noticed a saffron-clad group surrounding 70-year-old Wakeel Ahmed, a Muslim shopkeeper who has run a small business in Kotdwar for decades.

The men objected to the name of Ahmed’s shop—Baba School Dress—and demanded that he remove the word baba. They insisted that the term could only be used by Hindu religious figures and that a Muslim had no right to it.

A video that later went viral shows Deepak confronting the group and questioning their logic. He asks why others are allowed to use the word baba but not Ahmed. “The shop is 30 years old; will you change the name?” he challenges them.

When one of the men demands to know his identity, seeking to place him neatly within a religious box, Deepak responds with a sentence that would later become a flashpoint: “My name is Mohammad Deepak!”

The phrase, Deepak later explained, was deliberate—an attempt to merge identities, to articulate an idea of India where faith cannot be weaponised to strip someone of dignity.

“I just want to say this to all of you—to my brothers, sisters, and friends—that our country needs love and affection, not hatred. You can spread as much hatred as you want; there is no stopping that. But spreading love is a very big thing,” he said in another video message.

The cost of that stand was swift. Deepak’s Instagram account was inundated with abuse. Hindu right-wing social media handles across X, Instagram, and Facebook branded him a “traitor” and hurled other slurs. The threats spilled from screens into the streets.

Yet his intervention also sparked a wave of solidarity. Across social media, many described Deepak’s act as a reminder that ordinary citizens can still resist mob intimidation.

Wakeel Ahmed, the shopkeeper at the centre of the incident, told Maktoob earlier, “What Deepak has done is appreciable, and more people should show the courage he has shown. He truly showed that humanity still exists, and every threat and intimidation is small if confronted with courage and humanity.”

Police have since registered two FIRs related to the incident.

In his complaint, Ahmed stated that he has been running Baba School Dress on Patel Marg for the past three decades. He told the police that on January 26, 2026, three to four young men entered his shop, identified themselves as members of Bajrang Dal, and issued an ultimatum: change the shop’s name or face “dire consequences”.

“They said the result would not be good if the name ‘Baba’ was not removed,” Ahmed said in his complaint.

He identified two of the alleged harassers as Gaurav Kashyap and Shakti Singh Gonsai.

Speaking to Maktoob, Ahmed said the episode has left him shaken. “They came and started pressuring me to remove the shop’s name. They said it was not acceptable. As it was our 30-year-old brand name, I tried to explain, but they kept harassing me,” he said.

He added that the intimidation was not new. “They came four months ago, too. Upon their insistence, we wrote the name of the owner on the board, though it was not necessary, as we are known as Baba Shop and it is a common name.”

Based on Ahmed’s complaint, Kotdwar Police booked the two named individuals and their unidentified associates under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 115(2) for voluntarily causing hurt, Section 333 for house trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint, and Sections 351(2) and 352 for criminal intimidation and intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace.

Police also registered a separate FIR against 30 to 40 unidentified individuals, allegedly members of Bajrang Dal, accusing them of inciting communal disharmony, obstructing a national highway, and manhandling police personnel in Kotdwar on Saturday.

The FIR was registered on Sunday under sections of unlawful assembly, obstructing the duty of public servants and promoting enmity, based on a complaint from a police officer who was deployed in Kotdwar at the time of the incident.

Tensions escalated further the same day when a large group of Bajrang Dal workers gathered outside Deepak Kumar’s gym, even as police were present, demanding that he come out.

In a video recorded during the protest, the men can be heard saying, “The man who calls himself ‘Mohammad Deepak’ has now shut his gym and fled… If he has the courage, he should come outside. He chased away unarmed Bajrang Dal workers. We are now standing in his city, yet he has run away. If he loves Muslims, then he should wear a skull cap and become a Muslim.”

The incident drew political attention as well. Expressing solidarity with Deepak, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said: “Deepak from Uttarakhand is a hero of India. Deepak is fighting for the Constitution and humanity – for that Constitution which the BJP and the Sangh Parivar are conspiring every day to trample underfoot. He is a living symbol of a shop of love in the marketplace of hate, and that’s what stings those in power the most.”

He added, “The Sangh Parivar is deliberately poisoning the country’s economy and society, so that India remains divided and a few people continue to rule on the crutches of fear. Uttarakhand’s BJP government is openly siding with those anti-social forces that are engaged in intimidating and harassing ordinary citizens. No country can move forward in an atmosphere of hate, fear, and anarchy. Without peace, development is just an empty slogan. We need more Deepaks – those who do not bow, who do not fear, and who stand firmly with the Constitution with all their might. We are with you, brother. Don’t be afraid. You are a lion-hearted warrior.”