‘I am Hindu too’: Why Vijay joined ‘Mohammad’ Deepak to protect a Muslim shopkeeper in Uttarakhand

Vijay Rawat joined his friend Deepak Kumar Kashyap, a local gym owner, to confront Bajrang Dal vigilantes harassing a 70-year-old Muslim shopkeeper in Kotdwar, Uttarakhand, on January 26. Vigilantes demanded that the shopkeeper, who is suffering from Parkinson’s disease, remove “Baba” from his shop’s name. Driven by a sense of humanity, Vijay and Deepak – whose intervention has since gone viral – stepped in.

Speaking to Newslaundry, the 38-year-old Vijay said, “Although I didn't know the shopkeeper personally, his shop has been around for 30–35 years, and my close friend runs the business next door. Fearing for the shopkeeper's health – and knowing he had been targeted twice before by such groups – we drove them away out of a sense of humanity.”

Notably, Vijay has been associated with the Congress party, although he was expelled last year for “anti-party activities”. 

He clarifies that his actions on January 26 were rooted in his Hindu faith. 

“Deepak and I felt we did a good deed; perhaps we even saved a life by driving those people away. Our religion is one of humanity. I am a Hindu, and I follow my faith, but I treat all religions as equal. Our religion doesn't teach us to harass or trouble others. On what authority did they come here to force this man to change his shop's name?” he asked. 

“We are followers of Sidhbali Baba; we revere him as much as they do,” said Vijay. The vigilantes had opposed the idea of a Muslim shopkeeper using the name ‘Baba’ because Hindus follow Sidhbali Baba, an ascetic believed to be blessed by Hanuman. “This is simply an attempt to use religion to set people against one another,” he added.

After the video went viral, the situation escalated legally. Members of the Bajrang Dal alleged in the FIR filed against Deepak and Vijay that they had attacked and robbed them of their money, and subjected them to casteist slurs while they were on a “door-to-door outreach initiative”.   

“They filed a false FIR against us on January 28 after the video went viral, and the police, under pressure, registered it. See the video for yourself. There was no ‘outreach’ happening here. They had tried to do the same thing to the shopkeeper four-five months ago,” claimed Vijay.

Challenging organisations that selectively target minorities, he said, “No religion is wrong. People are wrong. There are wrong people in our religion, and there are wrong people in other religions as well. People responsible for Ankita Bhandari's murder were Hindu. Where were such organisations (like the Bajrang Dal) then?”

Meanwhile, he also believes that the Uttarakhand government is protecting and supporting groups like the Bajrang Dal. 

Watch.

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