The Indian Muslim community has once again found itself at the centre of a disturbing wave of hatred and prejudice as right-wing Hindutva influencers created a fictional video showing Muslims engaging in “Rail Jihad”.
The video published on the MVS YouTube channel now trending on various social platforms gives a perception of Muslims as involved in “Rail Jihad”, a fake narrative peddled by right-wing media and organisations affiliated with the Hindutva.
The controversial video with the caption “Train overturning training in Madrasa” opens with a man clad in a kurta-pyjama and wearing a white skull cap with a bag on his back standing on the rail tracks. The scene, deliberately crafted to evoke suspicion in the viewers shows the Muslim character looking for something on the tracks.
Meantime, the interval of the video shows two other characters of men confronting the Muslim man and questioning him about his intentions to which he replies he is here to board a train. The men answered the train was supposed to be boarded at a station, not at the railway track.
Upon questioning, the visibly shaken Muslim character drops a screwdriver from his pyjama. The particular scene involves background music often associated with Muslim villain stereotypes in movies.
The video continues with the Muslim man fleeing the spot in terror, hiding behind a rock and muttering words “Ya Allah aj toh train jihad nahi ho paya, kab tak roke ge, Madrasa ki taleem hum zaya nahi hone de get,(O Allah, today the train jihad could not happen. How long will you stop us? We will not let the education of the Madrasa go to waste.)“
Eventually, the clip concludes with another music “Alhamdulillah,” a common expression in Arabic used by Muslims to thank God.
Meanwhile, the video has ignited widespread outrage, tagging Buxar Police of Bihar on X, demanding swift legal action against the video makers.
Critics argue that such content and misleading news is not only offensive but also potentially provoke violence against the Indian Muslim community by perpetuating dangerous myths.
Amid a massive backlash and public outcry, Buxar Police have taken cognize of the incident and announced that action will be taken.”Legal action is being taken on the said information”, the police said on X.
The characters seen in the video are Ashish Pandey, Vivek Tiwari, and Mithu Baba Chougain.
The narrative accusing Muslims of plotting to sabotage railway tracks to cause a fatal accident with intentions to want Hindu passengers to die has been already debunked severally by fact-checkers. Such propaganda videos aims to perpetuate harmful stereotypes and deepen communal divisions under the disguise of “entertainment”.
This scripted video comes at a time when India has witnessed several train and bridge accidents across states during this year. The situation has been exploited by several ultra-right-wing provocateurs to absolve the ruling government BJP and shift the blame squarely on Muslims.
