Mohammad Deepak’s gym reduced from 150 to 15 people; The price of opposing hatred? – News Himachali News Himachali

What price might one have to pay for standing against hatred and in favor of humanity? This can be gauged from the condition of Deepak Kumar or ‘Mohammed Deepak’ in Kotdwar, Uttarakhand.

When Deepak, a gym owner in a small town Kotdwar, helped an elderly Muslim shopkeeper, his life turned upside down. His gym, ‘Hulk Gym’ was very popular earlier. Now the number of members has reduced considerably.

It is reported that earlier around 150 people used to come to Deepak Kumar’s gym every day from morning to evening. But now only 12 to 15 people come every day. This decline has happened very rapidly. This happened because he helped an elderly Muslim shopkeeper who was a victim of hatred.

Since then many troubles have come against him. It all started on 26 January. The name of the shop of Vakil Ahmed, a 70 year old Muslim shopkeeper in Kotdwar, was ‘Baba School Dress and Matching Centre’. A video of this had gone viral. A crowd of people reached the shop and were asking the shopkeeper to remove ‘Baba’ from the name of the shop. He said that ‘Baba’ is used only for Hindu deity. It is said that this crowd belonged to Bajrang Dal workers.

Deepak Kumar was at a friend’s shop nearby at that time. He saw that the elderly shopkeeper was being harassed. They came forward and protested. When the crowd asked him his name, Deepak said, ‘My name is Mohammad Deepak.’ This video went viral. People started praising him that he bravely helped someone.

atmosphere of protest and fear
On January 31, many people of Bajrang Dal gathered outside Deepak’s gym. They had come to protest. The police stopped them. Deepak says that after that day people got scared. Many members had come to the gym when the Bajrang Dal people entered. He saw male and female members. People got scared and left the gym. Deepak told reporters, ‘People are scared after the January 31 incident.’

His health also deteriorated due to this stress. He says, ‘My health had deteriorated, now I am a little better. My daughter had stopped going to school. For the last two days, I go with her and leave her, then she leaves.

still there is hope

Deepak is not losing courage. He says, ‘I think after some time the old members will come back.’ Some people are also supporting him. Like CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas met him and the shopkeeper and helped him. This matter is much discussed in Uttarakhand. Police have registered several FIRs. On one hand, on the complaint of the shopkeeper, on the other hand, some cases were filed against Deepak also. Also on Bajrang Dal people. A person talked about a reward of Rs 2 lakh for killing Deepak on social media, against which a case was also registered.

Deepak says that whatever he did, he did it for humanity. He says, ‘I am a human being first and foremost.’ But the cost of doing good is costing them dearly!