A 64-year-old Muslim cab driver was allegedly harassed and coerced into chanting “Jai Shri Ram” by a group of young men near the Taj Mahal parking lot in Agra, Uttar Pradesh.
The incident occurred amid heightened religious tensions, coinciding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Ayodhya to hoist a saffron flag at the Ram Temple.
A video of the encounter, which went viral on social media, shows Mohammad visibly distressed as the men repeatedly pressure him to chant the slogan.
When he refuses, the man filming the clip, identified as Rohit, responds, “Jai Shri Ram bolega tu, 2–3 din mein” (“You will say Jai Shri Ram in two or three days”).
Rais, who earns his livelihood driving tourists to the Taj Mahal.
The clip triggered widespread condemnation online, with many users describing it as a disturbing example of Islamophobic harassment.
Social media posts highlighted the vulnerability of elderly Muslim workers in tourist hubs and pointed to a growing pattern of forced religious sloganeering.
Several users demanded immediate police action against those seen intimidating Rais.
Meanwhile, Agra Police acknowledged the video after it was flagged by a local journalist. Officials said the Tajganj police station and the Cyber Cell had been instructed to investigate and take “necessary action.”
No arrests have been made, though the investigation is ongoing.
The incident adds to a documented pattern of Islamophobic harassment in India in which Muslims are pressured to chant “Jai Shri Ram.” Though the phrase is traditionally a devotional Hindu chant, it has increasingly been used as a tool of intimidation, humiliation, or anti-Muslim signalling in several high-profile cases.
Human rights groups and scholars have noted that such coercive sloganeering often functions as a “test of loyalty,” disproportionately targeting vulnerable individuals, including elderly workers, labourers, and street vendors.
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