“My name is Mohammad Deepak”: a simple gesture that shocked India
- To discover an act of courage in the face of religious hatred.
- To understand the climate of religious tension in India.
- To see how a simple gesture can inspire unity.
On January 26, a short scene filmed in a shopping street in northern India caused great emotion across the country. HAS Kotdwarin the state of Uttarakhanda man intervened in the face of a crowd that was intimidating a Muslim trader. His intervention, captured by a phone camera, quickly went viral on social networks.
The man’s name is Deepak Kumar. Aged 46, he owns a gym in the city. That day, he was near a shop when he saw a group of men verbally attacking a 70-year-old Muslim shopkeeper. The attackers, linked to Bajrang Dala radical Hindu nationalist movement, demanded that the shopkeeper remove the word “Baba” from the name of his store, saying it could only be used by Hindus. The scene is tense. The voices rise. Passersby observe without intervening. That’s when Deepak Kumar steps forward and asks a simple question: why force a man to change the name of a business that has been around for decades? In the video, he is heard calmly responding when asked his name: “My name is Mohammad Deepak. »
“My Name is Mohammed Deepak” – How this Hindu man stood between a Bajrang Dal-linked mob and ‘Baba’ an elderly Muslim Shopkeeper in Kotdwar, Uttarakhand. The Mob was demanding the shopkeeper change his shop name. Full report @themojostory pic.twitter.com/uXLTh4TJEF
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) January 31, 2026
This sentence, both unexpected and symbolic, temporarily defuses the confrontation. Later, Deepak would explain that he wanted to convey a message of equality and unity. “I am not Hindu, I am not Muslim. Above all, I am a human being”he said in a video published after the fact.
But this position earned him strong reactions. Since the images were broadcast, Deepak Kumar has been the target of insults and threats on social networks, particularly from nationalist activists. Crowds formed in front of his home and his gym, forcing the police to intervene to prevent excesses.
At the same time, numerous messages of support poured in from all over India, saluting his courage and his refusal of religious hatred. The authorities opened two investigations: one concerning the intimidation of the trader, the other targeting individuals accused of stoking tensions and disturbing public order. This affair highlights an increasingly tense climate in certain regions of India, where religious issues regularly fuel conflicts. Deepak Kumar’s gesture, simple but risky, reminds us that beyond religious affiliations, living together also relies on individual courage. For a few minutes, on a street in Kotdwar, this idea took shape through an ordinary man who refused to remain silent.
