Despite Hindu dharma being the majority faith and the oldest living tradition in Bharat, Hindus have faced persistent judicial apathy whenever they tried to seek legal recourse against attacks on their faith, symbols, or practices. Time and again, petitions by Hindus—meant to protect sacred images, festivals, and beliefs from mockery and defamation—are cavalierly dismissed by courts who suggest that Hindus must develop “tolerance,” trivializing their very real anguish. This article catalogs prominent cases where the judiciary failed to do justice to Hindu sentiments and exposes the dual standards in protecting religious feelings in the country.
Punjab & Haryana HC: Baidyanath Shivling Logo (2025)
On September 12, 2025, the Punjab & Haryana High Court rejected a plea to remove the sacred Shivling from Baidyanath Ayurveda’s logo, bluntly rebuking the Hindu petitioner for being “excessively sensitive.” The decision trivialized the reverence Hindus hold for the Shivling and ignored calls for safeguarding sacred imagery. Such dismissals reflect an insensitive approach that emboldens further disrespect to Hindu symbols under the garb of “legal remedies already exist”.
Bombay HC: Holi Festival Insult (2025)
The Bombay High Court dismissed an urgent plea against a public insult to Holi, Bharat’s beloved and ancient festival. The court’s admonition—“Don’t be so sensitive”—suggested that mocking Hindu festivals is perfectly acceptable and that Hindus are unreasonable for seeking justice. Rather than protecting the faith that sustains the nation’s spiritual fabric, the court only deepened the sense of discrimination against Hindus.
Allahabad HC: Ban on Book Defaming Goddess Gayatri (2025)
In yet another instance of insensitivity, a PIL to ban a book falsifying the historicity of Goddess Gayatri was brushed aside. The Allahabad High Court’s summary rejection sent a message that openly insulting revered Hindu deities is tolerable, and “repeated petitions cannot be entertained”—a stance never seen when other religions are involved.
Bombay HC: Kailash Kher Song Case (2025)
A criminal complaint against acts that mocked Lord Shiva and offended millions of Hindus was thrown out, with the Bombay High Court arrogantly stating that “Every action disliked by a class [is] not outrage of religious sentiments.” This dangerous reasoning allows the continuous belittling of Hindu faith traditions, reducing genuine hurt to mere subjective discomfort.
Supreme Court: Adipurush Movie Controversy (2023)
Petitions against the Adipurush movie for its distortions of Hindu epics were outrightly rejected, with the Supreme Court lamenting that “everyone is touchy about everything now.” This attitude trivializes the deep reverence Hindus have for their scriptures and signals to filmmakers that distortions and disrespect are legally sanctioned.
Madras HC: Conversion & Tolerance (2022)
Petitions challenging religious conversions and misuse of loudspeakers were dismissed, with the Madras High Court declaring that “tolerance is a tenet of every Hindu.” Instead of addressing abuse and protecting the rights of Hindus, the Court weaponized the very virtue of tolerance to silence valid complaints, failing the larger Hindu community.
Bombay HC: Social Media Humour Over Hindu Sentiments (2018)
A case over a social media post that ridiculed Hindu dharma was dismissed with the advice to “get a sense of humour.” The court normalized disrespect to Hindu symbols while upholding “free speech,” creating an unsafe environment for Hindus who wish to defend their traditions against online attacks.
Supreme Court: PIL Against PK Movie (2014)
A PIL to ban the movie PK, which openly mocked important Hindu symbols, met with outright contempt—the Supreme Court advised Hindus, “If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.” The judiciary thus turned its back on millions of Hindus while upholding cinematic “freedom of expression,” but rarely extends the same latitude in other contexts.
Tandav Web Series (2021)
Complaints against the web series Tandav for denigrating Hindu gods were dismissed, despite clear evidence of deliberate mockery. Courts prioritized creative freedom over the religious dignity of Hindus.
Sacred Games (2018)
Even when Hindus objected to vilification in the Netflix series Sacred Games, courts refused to act, sending the message that Hindu pain is legally irrelevant in the public domain.
All India Bakchod Roast (2015)
A case against crude mockery of Hindu gods by stand-up comedians was brushed aside. The courts ruled there was “no substantial grounds”—showing the judiciary’s lack of accountability towards Hindu concerns.
Why Are Hindu Sentiments Ignored?
Despite robust legal provisions like IPC Section 295 and 295A, which theoretically protect religious sentiments—including those of Hindus—the judiciary often interprets these laws narrowly for Hindus, while being far more sensitive and respectful in cases involving minority faiths. Section 295A, designed to punish deliberate and malicious outrages against religious feelings, is rarely invoked meaningfully when Hindus seek justice, but seen quickly actionable in other scenarios. This dual standard betrays the Hindu majority and encourages open season on Hindu symbols and saints.
Conclusion
The Bharatiya judiciary has consistently failed Hindus desiring protection for their beliefs. Appeals for religious dignity have been met with ridicule, indifference, or trampling under the pretense of “tolerance” and “free speech”—virtues selectively applied. This reality constitutes a grave injustice, as courts systemically ignore the majority’s pain while often privileging the sensitivities of others. Hindus must continue demanding equal respect for their faith, and an end to blatant judicial double standards.
Hi Jamadagnya,
I very much appreciate that you as author of this reportage put your time and effort to read and respond to my comments. Thanks.
When you say “Hindus have lost sight of the way by keeping politics above dharma,… This is a major reason for Hindu inaction…”, then we must also examine how other people of other religions in the same places, as well as other places nationally and internationally behave in present times and have behaved historically. Politics is an inseparable and pervasive part of human existence. You “play politics” to serve your personal and group interests, which allows you to gain influencing power in the area concerned over others. So, by “politics”, I guess what you probably mean is that binding values that organizes a set of people into a group aiming for administrative control are extremely weak for Hindus, so other groups that are extremely bonded in terms of religious interests are effective in subjugating Hindus as a group ( which Hindus themselves do not group into). It is true that Hindus have no compelling (coercive) factors to bind them – historically that was replaced by caste based social rewards and punishments. So this is the area of challange for Hindu organizations and Hindu media.
Author Jamadagnya has pointed some handful of illustrative instances of crass victimization of Hindus. Thanks for that.
So, you ask “Why Are Hindu Sentiments Ignored?” I do not see any analysis (and remedial suggestions) on that in this article.
In 2022, two notable things happened:
One was Nupur Sharma’s to-the-point references to some disturbing Mohammadan sahi hadiths in response to Taslim Rehmani’s unsubstantiated, twisted and disparaging mockery of Shiva and the Hindu worship.
Supreme Court very harshly and with great moral indignation, blamed the victim Hindu Nupur Sharma with cringeworthy defeatist mentality, totally ignoring Taslim Rehmani’s blasphemy, and scandelously justified Mohammadan terrorist reactions.
Second one was a noisy public procession carried out same year by Dravidar Kazhagam in Madurai chanting totally unsubstantiated, extremely graphic pornographic insults to Hindu deities like Krishna. Also, DMK and other anti-Hindu haters chose to insult Hindu dharm with extreme hate.
Supreme Court could not care less.
So the question is what Hindus masses did in all such religious terroristic challanges? Basically zilch. They are passive leaving any action to government of the day. Supreme Court – very much like the Hindu masses, are bothered about their safety, so if it appears that Hindu sentiments are being ignored, then it is just coincidental.
So the actual difficult issue is to identify ways to have Hindu masses leave their submissive cowardice and defend themselves. Any thoughts?
I partially agree with you. But Hindus have lost sight of the way by keeping politics above dharma, and thus focusing of religious issues only for the sake of political victories. This is a major reason for Hindu inaction is what I feel.