In recent times, scrolling social media does not only lead you to news articles, celebrity updates, updates from friends, but also to content that is illegal and morally reprehensible. I don’t think any of us can claim that we have not come across videos of vigilante groups harassing poor Muslims on camera. Excuses can vary. Sometimes they demand Muslims to change the name of their shops in a way that establishes their religion. Sometimes they demand to see their identity cards. Many of us might have witnessed these illegal campaigns physically as well.There are two sets of Hindus who see these kinds of content or witness these kinds of incidents. First, those who agree with this. Second, those who feel bad seeing this but choose to stay silent because they think these vigilante groups have the power and they cannot do anything against them. Fear rings in and fingers move fast to scroll. If they are witnessing this in a market, maybe they will stop, see the harassment of the Muslim vendor/shopkeeper, feel bad, disgusted, angry, but move on.Deepak Kumar belonged to neither of these two groups of Hindus. He belonged to a rare third group. He chose to intervene and protect a Muslim shopkeeper from harassment in Kotdwar, Uttarakhand. He knew that the mob was directly or indirectly associated with those in power in Uttarakhand today. But that didn’t stop him from resisting it. “What’s your name?” the mob asked him.“My name is Mohammad Deepak,” he replied confidently. This one line is reverberating across the nation as a symbol of defiance against years of mob vigilantism in India. Ironically this incident took place on the Republic Day when Deepak witnessed a mob barging into a 30-year-old shop named ‘Baba School Dress and Clothing’. In a video that is viral now, the members of the mob can be seen asking Wakeel Ahmad, the owner of the shop, to change the shop’s name. They also threatened that they will change the shop’s name themselves next time. It would be foolish to assume that all the Hindu shopkeepers and customers in the market agreed with this treatment of Wakeel Ahmad.Also read: What Should Muslims Do? Asking the Wrong Question Repeatedly in Today’s IndiaIf the local Hindus had any problem with the shop’s name, they would have objected in the last 30 years. It would be safe to assume that many of them belonged to the second group who didn’t intervene due to fear of the vigilante mob.But Deepak, along with his friends such as Vijay Rawat, not only intervened but humiliated the mob and forced them to go back.The fear of the second group of Hindus is not completely unfounded. After Deepak’s defiance, a mob of Bajrang Dal surrounded his home on January 31 and threatened him. Pauri Garhwal police informed in a press release that an FIR has been registered against Deepak, and others under Sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 191(1) (rioting), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 352 (breach of peace). The FIR has been filed on the complaint of Kamal Pal, alleging that Deepak, Vijay, and their friends abused and attacked.It was illegal for Germans to protect jews in the Nazi Germany. That does not change the fact that it was the right thing to do. On the other hand, an FIR has been filed against the mob which surrounded Deepak’s home on January 31, but it doesn’t name anyone despite video evidence of people openly threatening Deepak and raising anti-Muslim slogans. FIR has been filed against 30-40 unknown people under Sections 191(2) (rioting), 121(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 126(2) (wrongful restraint), 196(2) (promoting enmity between different groups), 352 (breach of peace). According to the FIR, the mob disturbed communal harmony and peace.Another FIR has been registered on the complaint of Wakeel Ahmad (owner of Baba School Dress and Clothing) against the mob which entered his shop and threatened him to change the name of his shop. This FIR has been registered under sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 333 (house-trespass), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 352 (breach of peace). When the mob surrounded Deepak’s home, they addressed him as “Mohammad”. “Mohammad, come out,” they shouted. Similarly, they addressed Vijay as “Vijay Katua”. Last year when another Hindu woman, Shaila Negi, stood up against a mob harassing Muslims in Nainital, she was attacked with the same kind of comments. The reason is simple. In their distorted idea of India, Hindus are not supposed to stand with Muslims. When atheist Hindus speak against hatred, they are easily branded as anti-Hindu and pro-Muslim. Similarly, it’s easier to delegitimise the resistance of Hindus associated with opposition parties. But it is the resistance of common god-worshipping Hindus like Deepak and Shaila Negi that rattles the majoritarian forces the most. That completely goes against their narrative in which they claim that they are doing all these anti-Muslim acts for the welfare of devout Hindus, and that all devout Hindus agree with their actions.Also read: India Saw 1,318 Hate Speech Events in 2025; 98% of Them Targeted Muslims: ReportDeepak is himself a devotee of Lord Hanuman, god on whose name Bajrang Dal has kept their name. There are posters of Lord Hanuman in his gym. He used to post photos of Hanuman on his Instagram saying “Jai Siya Ram”. It is precisely why his act of resistance is impactful because it directly combats the narrative of groups like Bajrang Dal establishing that this is how Hanuman devotees are supposed to behave, that they are supposed to stand with humanity and love people of all religions. It successfully contradicts the idea of Hinduism of these vigilante groups. Muslims can’t do this. Atheist Hindus can’t.It is precisely why Gandhi, a devout Hindu who stood with Muslims, was the biggest danger for majoritarian forces and they took his life. Their frustration is also because for the last 11 years, they have invested a lot of effort and money to convince ordinary Hindus that Muslims are their enemies. Yet, all it took for Deepak to demolish their 24×7 propaganda was a simple act of courage.Deepak later explained why he said his name is Mohammad Deepak. He said that he wanted to establish that as an Indian he does not agree with these acts because India belongs to all religions. Majoritarian groups can’t tolerate the fact that devout Hindus chose to stand with Muslims and not with a Hindu vigilante group. So, they must have some association with Muslims. They can’t stand any Hindu belonging to the third group. They are rattled that seeing this act, more Hindus might transfer from the second group to the third, and start resisting them on streets. So, they must be defamed and silenced. They must be proven anti-Hindu.A Hanuman bhakt Deepak emerging from the crowd and saying it loudly that his religion does not teach hatred, but only love, goes a long way in an environment where majoritarian groups are committing anti-Muslim acts in the name of Hinduism. That’s why it becomes important for the state to punish people like Deepak.A screengrab of an Instagram post which includes an AI-generated image in support of Deepak Kumar. Photo: Instagram/rachna_bishtrawat.Deepak’s act of defiance is already part of pop-culture. His AI generated images with heroic background songs are viral on social media. His words immortalised through posters and videos. There are short skits being made in which some people are shown harassing a Muslim shopkeeper and the Muslim shopkeeper says “Chale jaao nahi toh Mohammad Deepak aa jaayega” (Go back or Mohammad Deepak will come). Rahul Gandhi, India’s leader of opposition, has posted on social media in Deepak’s support. On Deepak’s Instagram video after the incident in which he says he is a human first, there are over 1 lakh comments, majority of them in his support. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Deepak Akki Kumar (@deepakakkikumar)What does this heroisation of Deepak show? For Hindus, Deepak did what they wanted to do all these years but could not. All the Hindus who saw anti-Muslim harassment on social media, on streets, but could not do anything other than expressing anger privately, finally see themselves in Deepak. It’s as if Deepak alone has not spoken, they all have spoken with him. Not spoken, but cried and shouted. For Muslims, Deepak is precious. It was hard for them to move on seeing everyday violence against them. Every poor Muslim vendor/shopkeeper being harassed by the vigilante groups was looking at the crowd for a Deepak who would stand with him. They are going to hold on to this Deepak for long. It came after a long wait.Deepak has answered the disappointment of Muslims facing everyday violence as well as the guilt of Hindus who could not do anything.For peace-loving Indians, Deepak’s act opened a vocal space for the idea of India, one where Hindus and Muslims coexist peacefully, articulating an emotion that had been simmering for a long time against the rise of hateful majoritarian mobs.Kaushik Raj is a Delhi-based poet.