Muslim man killed for not chanting Gayatri mantra? How ‘The Quint’ amplified fake news spread by LinkedIn user who has now deleted his post
Days after the Pahalgam terror attack, where Hindus were selectively killed by Islamic terrorists, social media has been rife with fake lists of victims, old reports of ‘persecution’ of Kashmiris and make-believe stories of ‘Muslim victimhood’.
One such fake news was posted on LinkedIn by a user named Ishan Saxena on Friday (25th April). He claimed that his close friend, who is a Muslim by Faith, was fighting for his life in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a hospital in Bengaluru.
Saxena alleged that his ‘Muslim friend’ (whose identity wasn’t supposedly revealed at the family’s request) worked at a reputed vehicle manufacturing company and was brutally assaulted by his colleagues.
Screengrab of the LinkedIn post of Ishan Saxena
Saxena suggested that the attackers were Hindus, who forced his ‘Muslim friend’ to speak out against the Pahalgam terror attack and forced him to chant ‘Gayatri Mantra (sacred Hindu hymns).’
“He (the Muslim friend) chose not to engage in a conversation about the recent Pahalgam issue during lunch with some local colleagues. He quietly refused to comment and excused himself from the discussion. Later, after his shift ended, the same individuals confronted him, demanded he recite the Gayatri Mantra, and when he didn’t, they attacked him mercilessly,” Saxena wrote in his post.
He further alleged that no First Information Report (FIR) was lodged in connection with the case. “I received a devastating call from his wife last night. She’s shattered. What’s worse? No FIR has been registered. And the organization he has served loyally has yet to issue a statement,” he continued.
Screengrab of the LinkedIn post
His LinkedIn post quickly garnered 400+ likes. When another LinkedIn user expressed concern about the well being of his friend, Ishan Saxena claimed that his ‘Muslim friend’ had passed away. “He is no more. We lost him 30 minutes back,” he declared.
The alleged story of a Muslim corporate employee being forced to chant the Gayatri Mantra and killed for not speaking out about the Palgham terror attack in a cosmopolitan city like Bengaluru was shocking. It also had the potential to create social unrest and communal disharmony at a time of national crisis.
However, there was no news report about any such incident of assault (let alone murder) in the English media. Such an explosive story did not feature in any local Kannada news channel or print media. This raised even more suspicion about the story.
Screengrab of the tweet by OpIndia journalist
OpIndia’s Assistant Editor Dibakar Dutta reached out to the Bengaluru police, tagged the handles of Deputy Commissioners in various zones, but received no response.
A few hours later, Ishan Saxena deleted his LinkedIn post. Thereafter, he deactivated his LinkedIn account altogether.
The bogus story of a ‘close Muslim friend’ and his eventual killing in Bengaluru by Hindu colleagues over the Palgham terror attack was becoming clearer by the day.
Given that Ishan Saxena claimed to work in the HR department of Cashkaro, our journalist, as well as other netizens reached out to the company.
On Saturday (26th April), it put out a statement saying that Ishan Saxena is an ex-employee at Cashkaro.
“We are aware of certain posts circulating online regarding statements made by Mr. Ishan Saxena (ex-CashKaro employee). We would like to clarify that Ishan Saxena was relieved of his duties at CashKaro on 27th February 2025, and the views expressed in their personal posts do not reflect the values, beliefs, or position of our company in any way. CashKaro remains committed to promoting a respectful, inclusive, and responsible environment—both within our organization and in the communities we serve,” it said in a statement.
The Quint amplifies fake claims of Ishan Saxena
Screengrab of the story published by the Quint
On the same day (26th April), The Quint published (archive) his story as part of a series of stories to peddle the ‘Muslim victimhood’ angle. Without verifying any facts of the case, it re-published the post of Ishan Saxena.
‘An auto company employee allegedly beaten up brutally’, read the subheading of the Quint article (which has now been removed).
The Quint ‘journalist’ Aliza Noor did not follow up with the police or try to find any other corroborating sources.
Screengrab of the Instagram post by ‘The Ummah Insights’
The fake claims of Ishan Saxena were re-posted verbatim with heart-wrenching graphics by an Islamic page dubbed ‘The Ummah Insights’ on Instagram. At the time of writing, it had garnered 1428 likes.
The version of Ishan Saxena
On Saturday (26th April), Ishan Saxena reached out to OpIndia and informed that the post did not belong to him. He claimed to have copied the post from another user on LinkedIn, but did not remember his name.
On being asked about his claim that the ‘Muslim friend’ passed away, Saxena said that he saw another commentator make the claim and that he just repeated it. He agreed that the incident could have been fake.
He told us that he had been interrogated by the Bengaluru police. According to Saxena, the police told him that no such incident took place.
They also directed him to delete his post and refrain from posting any communally sensitive content without verification in the future.
The official statement of Ishan Saxena has been reproduced below –
“I am Ishan and I recently made a LinkedIn post regarding a muslim man being attacked by his colleagues. This post was actually a copy of another LinkedIn post mentioning the incident and I had shared it in the haste of feeling bad about what all is happening in our country. I should have fact checked the post which I didn’t and I am hence issuing this apology statement for making the post regarding an incident which I thought to be true but did not fact check.“
OpIndia could not find any post on Google Cache, other than that of Ishan Saxena, that alleges the death of a Muslim corporate worker in Bengaluru for not reciting the Gayatri Mantra and not commenting on the Pahalgam terror attack.
Other social media posts only cite his LinkedIn profile and claims made by him.
Conclusion
Time and again, fake stories surface on social media aimed at demonising the Hindu community or painting it in a poor light.
In the latest instance, a story where no names (or details of the crime) were mentioned was picked up by a prominent media outlet (The Quint) only because it fitted the narrative of ‘Muslim victimhood’.
This was done by ‘The Quint’ to deviate public discourse from the Pahalgam terror attack where 24 Hindus were killed by Islamic terrorists for the virtue of their Faith.
Hindus were forced to say their names, show ID cards, recite Kalma and even pull down their pants to show proof of ‘circumcision.’ Attempts are made to brush this ‘religious profiling’ of the victims under the carpet.
The Quint did not cite any apology for amplifying the fake news shared by Ishan Saxena and quietly deleted their story.
In the past, fake stories like semen filled ballons being hurled during Holi were peddled in the media with the intention to malign the Hindu festival. Later, when investigations revealed that no such incident occurred, the usual suspects quietly deleted their stories without any apology.
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