02-Feb-2026

Kotdwar is a city in Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, where Wakeel Ahmed, a Muslim shopkeeper runs a shop by the name of Baba School Dress for the last thirty years. On January 26, 2026, a group of men who identified themselves as members of Bajrang Dal asked him to remove the word “Baba’ as only Hindus are allowed to use the term. It was then Deepak Kumar, a gym owner, stood by the shopkeeper. When confronted and asked by the men who he was, Deepak answered,   

“I am not a Hindu, I am not a Muslim, I am not a Sikh, and I am not a Christian. First and foremost, I am a human being. Because after I die, I have to answer to God and to humanity, not to any religion,” looking directly into his phone camera in a video that has since travelled far beyond his town.

In a time when a section in the Indian society is trying to divide people on religious lines, these words of Deepak Kumar are music to every Indian who loves Mother India. As an individual who respects every human being, I salute this gentleman. To me, he is among those I would consider the real sons of India.