Barabanki: A Muslim man in Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki district was allegedly forced by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes to kneel before a calf as an act of religious devotion, after they accused him of making hateful comments against the animal.

According to a video posted by Sanatan Gauraksha Dal on Saturday, July 4, a Muslim man had allegedly made some inflammatory remarks against their holy animal. Enraged, the cow protection group took law into their own hands and confronted the man in public. There were at least 15 to 20 people in the group surrounding the man. They could be seen repeatedly hitting him while he tried to apologise.

The group asked him to call his father and threatened him using abusive language. The “vigilantes” later dragged the man to a shed, forcing him to kneel in front of a calf, touch its legs and chant “Jai Shri Ram” as they demonstrated how to prostrate before the animal.

In the Instagram post, the Hindutva group claimed the “jihadis” allegedly threatened to play a “Holi of blood.” The video has since gone viral on social media.

The police responded to some videos asking users to provide complete details regarding the incident and submit a petition at the relevant police station for “necessary action to be taken.”

When contacted, the Barabanki Superintendent’s PRO stated that the police were unaware of the incident, despite their response on X.

Congress MP Syed Naseer Hussain shared the video, condemning such acts of forced religious worship and describing it as “deeply disturbing.”

“Such acts are not expressions of faith but crimes that violate human dignity and the Constitution. When vigilante groups believe they can assault citizens and publicly degrade them with impunity, it reflects a serious failure of governance under the BJP government,” he wrote on X.

Hussain urged the Uttar Pradesh government to take stringent action against the group and “ensure no one is allowed to take the law into their own hands.”