Sangh Parivar must reboot its Hindutva strategy while “I Love Muhammad” unfurls in Gujarat and elsewhere in India.

I Love Muhammad -vs- I Love Mahadev.

Burning Gujarat is showing the reality of the entire Bharat. The Sangh Parivar must rethink its Hindutva strategy.

Upananda Brahmachari

60 arrested after communal clashes in Gujarat over WhatsApp status message. The clashes erupted over a WhatsApp status message that referenced a recent social media trend and included the statements ‘I love Mohammed’ or ‘I love Mahadev’. During the clashes, the Garba events were attacked, stones were thrown and vehicles were set on fire. The “I love Muhammad” people created scary moments that led to stone throwing and mass panic. Yes, all this happened in Gujarat, which has been ruled by the BJP government for three decades.

According to the police on Thursday (25 September 2025), violent clashes and arson took place in Bahiyal village in Dehgam taluk of Gandhinagar district in Gujarat late Wednesday night (24 September 2025) following a so-called objectionable post on social media. Around 60 people were arrested in connection with the clashes, Additional Superintendent of Police (Dehgam) Ayush Jain said. More than 200 people were involved in the stone throwing in which several vehicles and shops were damaged and some set on fire. Bahiyal is about 38 kilometres from Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat.

Jain said a WhatsApp status posted by a Hindu, which referred to a recent trend on social media, namely ‘I love Muhammad’ and ‘I love Mahadev’, had angered members of the Muslim community and triggered the attack. At around 11pm on Wednesday, a mob allegedly smashed the shutters of a shop owned by the man who had uploaded the status.

According to reports, clashes broke out between Hindus and Muslims  during the Garba celebrations in Gujarat after a member of the rival group posted ‘I Love Mahadev’ on social media and called for a campaign against the ongoing ‘I Love Muhammad’ controversy. Vehicles and shops were damaged and many people were injured in the violent clashes. This means that Muslims have the right to run an “I Love Muhammad” campaign in Gujarat, while Hindus are attacked if they want to run an “I Love Mahadev” campaign. Where did the Muslims in Gujarat get such power over the Hindus in the states where the BJP has been in power for a long time and has been promoting its Hindutva agenda?

The incident took place late on Wednesday night at Bahiyal village in Dahegam in Gandhinagar district. What started as a dispute over a status on social media quickly escalated during the Garba celebrations and led to stone throwing and stampede. More than eight vehicles were damaged and a shop was vandalised and set on fire. Police forces attempting to bring the situation under control were also attacked, with two of their vehicles damaged in the rioting.

According to initial information, a man from the village’s Hindu community posted a message on social media saying ‘I love Mahadev’ and called for it to be shared in response to ‘I love Mohammad’. After the post, a group of men from the Muslim community approached the boy’s shop. However, the boy fled the scene, whereupon the group vandalised the shop. A video recording of the incident shows Muslim men breaking into a shop and vandalising it. Police rushed to the scene to bring the situation under control but were also attacked by the mob. Two police vehicles were damaged in the confrontation. Then, it is assumed that in BJP-ruled Gujarat, ‘I Love Muhammad’ people have the right to preach or propagate, but Hindus do not have the right to propagate or preach ‘I Love Mahadeva.’ Otherwise, Hindus will be subject to attack or vandalism.

Yes, Gujarat is burning! Why is there this Garba violence in Gujarat, why is this happening? The BJP has been in power in the state for more than three decades under the leadership of Modi and Shah. The close friends of the RSS-BJP should take a serious look at the situation. It appears that the RSS-BJP people are changing their political course to attain central power even by way of some patching up to appease the Muslims. What Bhagwat, Modi, Shah and Nadda are doing is extremely dangerous for the Hindus. One by one, they are sacrificing everything for the Muslims, jeopardising the Hindu community. The real controllers of Gujarat today are Modi’s close associates Zafar Sarsewala and Abdul Bhashani. And Hindutva icons like Praveen Togadia have been eliminated one by one. It is a proven fact that the fake Hindutva of the RSS-BJP ultimately caused the rise of Islamist power in Gujarat. The pro-Muslim policies of Modi and Shah jeopardised the interests of Hindus in Gujarat during the BJP rule in the state. Many parts of Bet Dwarka and the areas around Somenath were captured by the Muslims and the Hindus in many places of Gujarat were forced to migrate to other areas. This decline of Hindus in Gujarat shows the BJP’s wrong policy of minority appeasement, which can also be seen in other BJP-ruled states in many parts of Haryana, Uttarakhand and Assam.

In short, the RSS-BJP-VHP combine, i.e. the Sangh Parivar, has utterly failed in understanding the Islamic agenda in India, be it in Gujarat, Bengal, Kerala, Kashmir or UP, Uttarakhand and Assam. They should rethink their strategies to fight these Islamic or Evangelical forces to ensure the safety, security and future of Hindus in Bharat.
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_Inputs from PTI and ANI.