Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – A video showing BJP leader Ravi Negi issuing threats to Muslim shopkeepers in Delhi has created a storm on social media, stirring deep outrage and condemnation. In the video, Negi, identified as Ravindra Singh Negi alias Ravi Negi, can be seen demanding that Muslim shopkeepers display their “real Muslim names” on their shops, warning them of severe consequences, including closure and sealing of their businesses, if they fail to comply.
This alarming incident unfolds amidst ongoing political debates around names and religious identities in Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. The controversy has now reached the capital, with Negi, a BJP councillor from Ward number 198, stoking communal tensions with inflammatory remarks. The video shows him confronting shopkeeper Altamas, who runs a dairy under the name “Tomar.” Negi, with clear communal overtones, orders him to include his Muslim name on the shop’s signage.
“If you are a Muslim, why have you written Tomar?” Negi is heard saying in the video. “Your name is Altamas, a Muslim name. You need to get it written tomorrow so people know your identity. If you are working in a Hindu colony, at least write a Muslim name. If you don’t, the shop will be closed and sealed.” The brazen tone and threatening language used by Negi have left many questioning the growing atmosphere of intolerance and communal intimidation in the city.
Negi does not stop there. He proceeds to target another shopkeeper, Mohammad Ayan, who runs “Raval Dairy.” Negi harshly questions the choice of name for the shop, stating, “Why have you opened a shop with the name ‘Raval,’ brother? Change the name. Write ‘Mohammad Ayan Khan.’ Why are you deceiving people in a Hindu-populated area? Do we have any issues with you? But you’ve written ‘Raval,’ and your name is Mohammad Ayan.” Similar demands are made to change the name of a shop called “New Haryana Bhandar.”
Negi’s remarks, accompanied by thinly veiled threats of business closures, reflect a dangerous trend of communal vigilantism, where individuals in positions of power use their influence to intimidate minorities. The videos have prompted widespread criticism from various quarters, with many accusing Negi of promoting a divisive and harmful agenda aimed at alienating Muslim citizens in Hindu-majority areas.
This story was originally published in clarionindia.net. Read the full story here.