Muslim judge says Hindutva hate campaign left her traumatised after lynching verdict
New Delhi: In her first public reaction after facing a vicious Hindutva-led hate campaign for sentencing 14 Hindu cow vigilantes to life imprisonment in a lynching case, Muslim judge Tabassum Khan of Madhya Pradesh has said she was left traumatized and made to feel guilty for delivering the verdict.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Tabassum Khan’s remarks came after former Indian Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju wrote an article in her support. In a personal message to Katju, later made public by him, she expressed heartfelt gratitude for his solidarity.
“I am extremely thankful from the bottom of my heart for your precious words shared in your post. Sir, they gave me immense strength and courage. Otherwise, I was traumatised and made to feel as if I had committed some crime by delivering that verdict. I am truly very fortunate and blessed to receive your kind words,” she wrote.
This is the first time the Muslim woman judge has spoken publicly since becoming the target of threats, abuse and hate speech by Hindutva extremists identifying themselves as “cow protectors” following her verdict.
One man posted a video threatening a “massacre” if the convicts were not released, while another social media account reportedly urged Hindus to drive the judicial officer out of the country. Several others claimed her verdict was influenced by her Muslim identity.
On June 12, 2026, Judge Khan convicted 14 Hindutva men and sentenced them to life imprisonment for the lynching of Sheikh Lala Nazir Ahmed, who was brutally attacked while transporting cattle.
Writing in her support in the news outlet Punjab Today, Katju said Judge Khan’s Muslim identity had become the primary basis for questioning the legitimacy of her judgment, calling it “a dangerous inversion of justice.”
“Judicial decisions are meant to be evaluated through legal reasoning, not through the religious identity of the individual delivering them,” he wrote.
Katju further said, “What kind of a society have we become where criminals who lynch members of the minority community are not supposed to be punished, particularly by a Muslim judge, but are expected to be let off with impunity? All right-minded Indians must support Judge Tabassum Khan. Hats off to her for bravely doing her duty.” KMS-18S
