{"id":193808,"date":"2026-02-01T18:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T13:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/?p=193808"},"modified":"2026-02-01T18:44:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T13:44:56","slug":"uttarakhand-bajrang-dal-men-accost-elderly-muslim-trader-over-baba-shop-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/02\/01\/uttarakhand-bajrang-dal-men-accost-elderly-muslim-trader-over-baba-shop-name.html","title":{"rendered":"Uttarakhand: Bajrang Dal men accost elderly Muslim trader over \u2018Baba\u2019 shop name"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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New Delhi: Kotdwar town in Uttarakhand state of India witnessed a tense situation on January 26 after individuals linked to the Bajrang Dal confronted an elderly Muslim shopkeeper over the name of his business, demanding that he remove the word \u2018Baba\u2019 from the signboard.

According to Kashmir Media Service, a video of the incident has since gone viral on social media, drawing widespread attention.

The shop, located on Patel Marg, is named Baba School Dress and Matching Centre. According to the shop owner, he has been running the business for nearly 30 years under the same name, which is also registered with the GST department.

In the viral footage, several activists are seen entering the shop and questioning the owner about why the name had not been changed despite earlier demands. The elderly man is heard explaining that the name has existed for decades and cannot be altered so easily. His explanation appears to be ignored as the activists continue to pressure him.

One of the activists is heard claiming that only Hindus have the right to use the word \u2018Baba\u2019, stating that it is associated with Siddhbali Baba, a revered figure linked to a nearby Hanuman temple. Notably, Kotdwar has several establishments using the word \u2018Baba\u2019, including Baba Book Centre, Baba General Store, and Baba Pan Shop.

The situation escalated when a local man intervened and objected to the activists\u2019 conduct. When asked his name, he identified himself as \u2018Mohammed Deepak\u2019 and questioned why the use of the word \u2018Baba\u2019 should be restricted to one community.

In the video, he is heard saying, \u201cBaba naam rakh lene se kya ho gaya? Har jagah baba likha hua hai.\u201d When told that other shops using the name belonged to Hindus, he responded, \u201cMuslim hone se kya ho gaya? Kya Musalmanon mein peer baba nahi hote?\u201d

As the argument intensified, more locals gathered at the spot. Towards the end of the footage, Deepak and another person are seen pushing the activists away from the shop, forcing them to leave.

Speaking to the media, Deepak said the activists had behaved disrespectfully towards the elderly shopkeeper. \u201cWoh 70\u201375 saal ke buzurg hain. Unke saath kaafi badtameezi ki ja rahi thi,\u201d he said.

Deepak also explained why he introduced himself as \u2018Mohammed Deepak\u2019. \u201cMera naam Deepak Kumar hai, lekin maine jaanbujhkar Mohammed Deepak bola, kyunki Hindu-Muslim hum sab ek hain,\u201d he said.

So far, there is no information about a formal complaint being filed by either party. Kotwali in-charge Pradeep Negi said the matter is under inquiry. \u201cJo bhi samajik mahaul kharab karega, us par karyavahi ki jayegi,\u201d he said.

The incident has once again raised concerns about the harassment of Muslim traders, selective targeting, and the responsibility of authorities to protect lawful business owners from intimidation, regardless of religious identity. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Delhi: Kotdwar town in Uttarakhand state of India witnessed a tense situation on January 26 after individuals linked to the Bajrang Dal confronted an elderly Muslim shopkeeper over the name of his business, demanding that he remove the word \u2018Baba\u2019 from the signboard. According to Kashmir Media Service, a video of the incident has …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":193807,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-193808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/02\/images-31686794521745784567.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193808"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":193809,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193808\/revisions\/193809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}