My name is Deepak. Mohammed Deepak.
This should be the idea of the new India—where identities can coexist, not collide. Where being Hindu, Muslim, or both in name and spirit is not treated as a crime.
But today’s reality tells a different story.
In Nainital, a young woman recently stood up to protect minorities from Hindutva violence. Elsewhere, an elderly Muslim man was attacked over something as trivial as the word “Baba” on a textile board. When violence erupted, a gym owner stepped in to stop it. When asked his name, he said, Mohammed Deepak.
That moment—an act of humanity—should have ended the violence. Instead, it worsened it.
This is the tragedy of our times: truth invites punishment, compassion provokes anger, and standing against extremism is treated as betrayal. The culture being normalised by BJP and Hindutva fringe groups is not strength—it is fear dressed as power. It is unethical, shameful, violent, and deeply against the very values of Hinduism it claims to defend.
“I am Khan, but I am not a terrorist.”
“I am Mohammed Deepak, I am Indian.”
Yet both are punished—by mobs, and too often by authorities who seem to have forgotten humanity, democracy, and constitutional duty.
This is not about religion.
This is about dignity.
This is about whether India still has space for courage, empathy, and truth.
If defending another human makes one a criminal, then we must ask:
What kind of nation are we becoming?
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