Fake Muslim identities are tearing at India’s soul

Across India, a disturbing pattern of false Muslim impersonations — from criminal scams to communal provocations — reveals a calculated bid to inflame divisions and erode secular values

THE WORLDVIEW

THE pattern of communal deceit that has surfaced across India in recent years reveals a deep malaise — one that springs not from ordinary mischief, but from a darker and more dangerous mindset. From the panic aboard an EasyJet flight triggered by a Hindu man masquerading as a Muslim, to the predatory blackmail of Muslim women by men hiding behind Muslim aliases, to threats against the Ram Temple issued under fabricated Islamic identities — each episode forms part of a disquieting mosaic of manipulation and malice.

This is no accidental trend. It represents the calculated use of communal identity as camouflage for criminal intent — an attempt to sow distrust, divide communities, and inflame hatred. The July 2025 incident during an EasyJet flight from Luton to Glasgow stands as a vivid example.

A middle-aged man named Abhay Nayak shouted ‘Death to America, death to Trump’ and ‘Allahu Akbar’ mid-flight, prompting panic and an emergency response. His subsequent arrest and indictment for impersonation exposed a grotesque exploitation of religious and political symbolism to terrorise innocents and disturb public order.

Such actions are not mere misbehaviour; they embody a malign design to weaponise India’s communal fault lines for personal or political ends. In Hyderabad, a Hindu man adopting the Muslim alias ‘Rafi’ ensnared and blackmailed Muslim women — a chilling reminder of how identity itself can become both shield and sword in acts of exploitation.

This speaks not merely of individual depravity, but of a wider corrosion in which religion is twisted into a tool of humiliation and harm. Equally cynical was the case of the couple in Maharashtra who, posing as Muslims, issued threats against the Ram Temple in Ayodhya to stir hysteria and extort money. The actions of Anil Ramdas Ghodke and Vidya Sagar Dhotre — invoking a revered Hindu site while hiding behind Muslim pseudonyms — reveal the depth of opportunism driving such communal mischief.

Even more pernicious was the murder in Kanpur, where a Hindu man killed a young boy and drafted a ransom letter emblazoned with ‘Allahu Akbar’ to mislead investigators. Here, calculated deceit was weaponised to implicate an entire community in a crime it did not commit — a vile act that deepens prejudice and corrodes the fragile threads of social trust.

In Kerala, a soldier fabricated an attack supposedly carried out by Muslims — a fiction that unravelled under scrutiny but not before it had sown fresh seeds of suspicion. Online, the same disease festers: fake Muslim profiles spewing inflammatory content, as in the Karnataka case, where a youth’s deception sparked digital outrage. The anonymity of the virtual realm now amplifies the same ancient hatreds, turning keyboards into catalysts of communal enmity.

The pattern is unmistakable. False Muslim identities are being deployed as instruments of provocation — to incite unrest, to profit from fraud, and to justify hatred. This deliberate subversion strikes at the very heart of India’s secular promise, risking a slide into mistrust and violence. The perpetrators’ motives are not those of ordinary criminals; they belong to a twisted ideology that feeds on division.

To question whether demolishing mosques or churches to raise new temples constitutes ‘progress’ is to confront the essence of this malaise. Do such acts mark development — or regression into sectarian zealotry? The answer lies not in the grandeur of stone and spire, but in the moral spirit of the nation.

Equally troubling is the glorification of myth over reason — as in the fantastical claim that Hanumaan’s flight predated those of the Wright Brothers. Such narratives may momentarily gratify identity pride, but they obscure the real work of nation-building: confronting economic inequality, social injustice, and political intolerance.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in his third consecutive term, India stands at a crossroads. Will this era entrench the fissures of extremism, or will it summon a more inclusive and forward-looking spirit? The measure of leadership lies not in the fervour of nationalist applause, but in the courage to foster harmony and equitable growth.

Depriving Pakistanis of water raises difficult questions. Does it make sense for India to spend trillions on building dams and dykes on western rivers that are meant for Pakistan — Jehlum, Indus and Chenab? Obviously not.

Justice, too, demands moral clarity: the crimes or excesses of Mughal emperors centuries ago cannot be visited upon today’s Indian Muslims. The principle of natural law — ‘The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father’ — remains the cornerstone of fairness. Every citizen must be judged by their own deeds, not by inherited guilt or communal label. Anything less would betray both justice and humanity.

In sum, the growing pattern of false Muslim impersonation is not a random aberration but a deliberate strategy of division. Confronting it requires more than policing; it demands a national awakening — a collective refusal to be deceived by masks of hate. Only by reaffirming justice, equality, and mutual respect can India move beyond the mirage of communal identity and towards the substance of true unity and progress.