‘Mohammed’ Deepak Kumar of Kotdwar swears by the Constitution

More people are now coming forward to help Deepak Kumar, the fitness entrepreneur who had intervened to stop Hindutva activists from vandalising the establishment of an elderly Muslim shopkeeper in Kotdwar, Uttarakhand, but is currently facing business trouble amid sharply reduced footfall.

Ever since he dared Bajrang Dal activists who were targeting the shop of 70-year-old Mohammed on January 26, many of his gym clients have stopped visiting, out of fear. The main reason was that within days of Kumar helping Mohammed, who runs a shop named “Baba School Dress and Matching Centre” in Kotdwar, his gym (named Hulk Gym) was surrounded by miscreants while men and women were training inside.

“The incident created panic among the people who used to be regulars. As of now, only five to six people visit the gym out of more than 150 who came here earlier to work out,” says Kumar, who had introduced himself as ‘Mohammed Deepak Kumar’ to troublemakers who wanted the Muslim shopkeeper to replace the name of his shop with something else. Their compliant was that ‘Baba’ in Kotdwar is considered a synonym for Lord Hanuman. Kotdwar, known as the Gateway to Garhwal Hills, is famous for its 'Sidhbali Temple' located on the banks of the Khoh river.

Since the shop had carried the same name for long, Kumar defended Mohammed’s right to use the name for his establishment. The Hindutva workers dispersed after sensing that the well-built Kumar and his friends were no walkover, but soon reappeared outside his gym, not far from the clothes shop, with more people a few days later.

“Their idea was to threaten me with consequences and to target my business. In a sense, they have succeeded,” Kumar told Open. For his part, Mohammed, the shopkeeper, told Open that his shop had the same name for more than 30 years.

Something interesting has happened since the visit of John Brittas, senior CPM leader and Rajya Sabha member, to Kotdwar on February 8 to meet Kumar. During his visit, Brittas went to Kumar’s gym and took an annual membership, paying Rs 10,000. The visit, which was widely covered in mainstream English media and sections of the regional media, has inspired more people to volunteer to transfer the annual membership fee to Kumar as a symbolic gesture of support.

“I am flooded with calls from people who want to take an annual membership at Deepak’s gym in Kotdwar,” Brittas says.

In fact, people are reaching out to express solidarity with someone they see as a man who stood up for a fellow citizen under attack from whom they see as bigots and, in the process, upheld the country’s pluralism and constitutional values. Kumar’s assertion to Hindutva men, who demanded to know his name as he stood between them and the hapless Muslim shopkeeper, that his name was ‘Mohammed Deepak Kumar’ has gone viral, with a large section of people lauding him on social media even as a few others hurled death threats. The Uttarakhand Police have registered a first information report (FIR) against a man, Utkarsh Singh, a resident of East Champaran district in Bihar, for allegedly announcing a Rs 2 lakh reward for anyone who kills Kumar.

Kumar told Open that the videos which went viral, showing him stopping the men from turning violent, were captured and circulated by the Hindutva men. “They expected support to flow in. Quite the opposite happened.” Kumar’s impromptu decision to come to the aid of a Muslim man under attack by bigots came naturally, driven by a sense of justice. He did not expect the incident to turn into national news, attracting hundreds of journalists and activists to his doorstep. Kumar's family comprises wife and daughter and an ageing mother who runs a small tea stall. Kumar said his mother was also publicly threatened by some people over the incident. Pradeep Negi, Station House Officer (SHO) at Kotdwar, said the police are investigating the matter. The police had placed restrictions on journalists meeting Kumar, arguing that they wanted to avoid untoward incidents.   

At his home, where a photograph of Dr B R Ambedkar occupies pride of place, there has been a steady stream of visitors from across communities and age groups from near and far. At a time when the country is witnessing heightened polarisation along religious lines and politicians are normalising hate speech and divisive politics, Kumar has emerged as a powerful symbol of inter-faith harmony and hope. Voicing support for victims of injustice and brutality across creed, caste and religion has become an act of heroism in India where perception is gaining in momentum that discrimination based on religious identity is on the rise, driven in no small measure by inflammatory statements by those in positions of power.