Despite a 2023 Supreme Court order directing all states to take suo motu action against hate speech, such incidents have only surged in recent years. According to a 2025 report by the Centre for the Study of Organised Hate (CSOH), the number of hate speech incidents reached 1,318, surpassing the 1,165 recorded in 2024. 

Amongst this network of hate-speech actors is a so-called ‘Mahant’ or ‘monk’ named Madhuram Sharan Shiva, the founder of the Shiv Shakti Akhada in Kanpur. Earlier this month, at a ‘Virat Hindu Sammelan’, Shiva accused Muslims of stealing jobs and harassing Hindus at festivals, urging Hindus to undergo weapons training. He labelled those who patronise ‘adharmis’ (unrighteous) or send children to missionary schools as ‘traitors’, ultimately declaring war and the elimination of ‘adharmis’ as the only solution.

Newslaundry recently interviewed him at a three-star hotel in Noida, where he was wearing his red and orange robes, equipped with a sword and dagger. An RSS worker since 2001, and a leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in recent years, ‘Maharaj Ji’, as he is known to his followers, founded the Shiv Shakti Akhada, an armed group of Hindu monks, in October 2024.    

Since then, Shiva and other armed ‘monks’ have led over 200 rallies, urging Hindus to take up arms in preparation for a ‘religious war’ to establish a Hindu Rashtra. Apart from calling for economic boycott and violence against Muslims and Christians, he has made claims that Hindus are afraid and in danger.   

Speaking to Newslaundry, he explained his slogan ‘Shastramev Jayate’ (victory comes with weapons) and said that only those “who are powerful enough” can prove their truth. On being asked whether arms picked up by his followers are used in a crime or a killing, he said, “That will not be my responsibility.” 

His rallies have been held with the permission of the district administrations in Uttar Pradesh, with police protection. The armed ‘monk’ has even been felicitated by local officials and politicians. Newslaundry contacted several police personnel, including the police commissioner in Kanpur, but received no response on any legal action taken against the ‘monk’.

Madhuram Sharan Shiva, however, only forms a part of the massive hate network using religion to tear the social fabric of this country further.

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