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The Hindu who stood up for a Muslim and became a hero
My name is Mohammad Deepak.
With these five simple words, a Hindu man who stood up for a Muslim shopkeeper has been catapulted to fame and become an unlikely hero in India.
Deepak Kumar has been praised as an "icon for secular India" and a "posterboy for India's pluralism". At the same time, he has faced noisy protests, been called a traitor to his Hindu faith and received death threats.
The incident that thrust him into the spotlight took place on 26 January in the small town of Kotdwar in the northern state of Uttarakhand. It has made headlines since a video recording of the incident went viral.
It shows the 42-year-old gym owner arguing with activists of Bajrang Dal, a hardline Hindu group that routinely makes news for harassing Muslims.
Deepak said he was at a friend's shop next door and intervened when he saw about half a dozen men heckling Vakeel Ahmed, the elderly owner of a clothing store called "Baba School Dress and Matching Centre". They were telling him to drop Baba from his 30-year-old shop's name.
Baba is a commonly used term in India to refer to mystics and religious gurus and also to fathers or grandfathers by both Hindus and Muslims.
The Bajrang Dal activists, however, insisted that Baba in Kotdwar could only be a reference to Siddhabali Baba - a local temple to Hindu god Hanuman - and that a Muslim had no right to use it in his shop's name.
Ahmed's son is heard pleading with them for more time, but they are told it must be done soon.
That's when Deepak walked in on the scene - drawn by "a lot of people crowding in front of the shop", he later told BBC Hindi.
"Are Muslims not citizens of India?" he is heard asking in the video.
Deepak said his intervention was spontaneous and not part of a strategy. "I did not like these young men talking so rudely with an elderly man. They were targeting him because of his religion. They were targeting Muslims."
Ahmed, 68, says it's difficult to say what would have happened if Deepak hadn't been there. "We were scared. They could go to any extent to get their point across."
After the push back from Deepak, the Bajrang Dal activists asked his name.
"By identifying myself as Mohammad Deepak, I wanted to tell them that I'm an Indian. That this is India and everyone has the right to stay here, regardless of their religion," he said.
Surprised by this unusual cobbling together of Hindu and Muslim names, the vigilantes left. But a few days later, more than 150 Bajrang Dal supporters turned up to protest outside Deepak's gym.
Following a complaint from Ahmed, the police registered a case against "some unknown people". They also registered a case against Deepak after a complaint from two Hindu activists.
The protest and the police action have made headlines in India. Coming at a time when unprovoked attacks on Muslims by Hindu mobs have become routine, Deepak's confronting of the vigilantes is being hailed as a rare act of heroism.
Congress party MP Rahul Gandhi has described him as "a hero of India" who is "fighting for the constitution and humanity". Deepak is spreading "love in the marketplace of hate", he posted on X, adding that "we need more Deepaks - those who don't bend, don't fear and who stand with full strength with the constitution".
An article in the Indian Express said the video provided "lots of hope".
"Deepak's words come as a shot in the arm in a society that often seems to have been overtaken by hatred and intolerance. They remind us that this is the 'real India', where everyone has the right to live and breathe as they please, and name their shop whatever they fancy," the report said.
Many others also took to social media to express solidarity with Deepak and commended him for standing up to bullies. His phone has been ringing non-stop, and he's been much sought-after by journalists, photographs and other visitors.
His follower count on Instagram has swelled and a short video he shared on 29 January has more than five million likes. In it, he says: "I am not a Hindu, I am not a Muslim, I am not a Sikh, I am not a Christian. First and foremost, I am a human being."
Deepak is now trying to come to terms with his newfound fame and says he never imagined that a simple intervention would become such a big issue.
"I simply did what I thought was right. I never thought the matter would become so big. But now it's become national news," he said.
His act of bravery, however, is not without consequence.
Deepak has faced backlash with critics calling him a traitor to his faith and leaving abusive messages on social media. He's received numerous death threats - on Wednesday, he posted on X a recording of one such threatening phone call.
"Bajrang Dal shouldn't have spared you… I'll teach you a lesson soon," the caller tells him.
Deepak says the attention has left his family "traumatised". "They are afraid. And I'm under a lot of mental pressure now."
His once thriving gym is now largely deserted, bringing financial worries in its wake.
"I used to have more than 150 people coming to train here daily. That number has now dwindled to 15. A lot of people are not coming because they are afraid," he said.
Last weekend, opposition MP John Brittas, who visited Deepak, called him "a beacon of hope in the struggle against the Hindutva communalism" and said he had taken "a membership at his gym, which now stands deserted due to threats from communal elements".
As news of Deepak's financial woes spread, people from across India offered to buy his gym membership because, as journalist Joy Das wrote, "We can't let a good man lose."
Despite the threats and worries, Deepak says if he faces a similar situation in the future, he will still stand up against what is wrong.
"If we remain silent today, tomorrow our children will also learn the same silence," he says.
Source: BBC
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