Islamophobic Remarks:
Barma presently resides in the Rourkela area of Odisha and is an active member of the Bajrang Dal, a far-right Hindu militant organization.
He has been with the organization for a number of years and is currently the regional head of the Bajrang Dal in Odisha. Barma routinely plans events and gatherings to further cow vigilantism in his area. He also actively engages in the practice of cow vigilantism, which employs mob violence to stop the slaughter of cows and the consumption of beef. Additionally, he and his allies have a reputation for visiting the region and threatening those who are thought to be hurting cows.
Barma is consistently active on social media and on the ground. He frequently distributes anti-Muslim propaganda on social media sites like Facebook, which has the potential to incite violence in communities. He posted a video on Facebook in October 2020 that featured a distraught girl calling for Toushif, a Muslim man who is suspected of killing her sister, to be put to death. Barma suggested that the accused be shot and used the insulting epithet “MC” to refer to him.
Barma released a second video that same month warning Hindu females against “love jihad,” a disproven conspiracy theory that holds that Muslim men seek to woo and convert Hindu women. He provided evidence for this claim by sharing a video showing a Muslim youngster being severely beaten and forced to confess that he “loves jihad.”
Barma posted on Facebook in December 2021, celebrating the fall of the ancient Babri Mosque and outlining intentions to destroy the mosques in Uttar Pradesh known as Gyanvapi and Idgah. He posted a video in March 2022 of a Hindu man inciting hatred and fear toward Muslims after seeing the Hindu nationalist propaganda film “The Kashmir Files.” He wrote, “This movie is a warning to us (Hindus) about the future,” after seeing the film for himself.
He posted a teaser trailer for the propaganda film “The Conversion,” which was meant to spread false information about the “love jihad” plot and incite hatred towards Muslims, in May 2022.
In June 2022, he shared a video on Facebook featuring Nupur Sharma, a former BJP spokesperson who was renowned for insulting Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him). In the video, Sharma belittles the religious and historical significance of Muslims in India. Additionally, he posted a video of a Bajrang Dal event that promoted the conspiracy theory known as “love jihad” and asserted that Hindus ar
e being forced to convert to Islam and Christianity. He joined other viewers in screaming hardline Hindu phrases like “Jai Shree Ram” and “Hail Hindu Rashtra” (Hindu Nation) when the film came to a close.
In a video that he published in October 2022, he argued in favor of strict legislation prohibiting the killing of cows and forced conversion. Additionally, he addressed Muslims directly, calling them cow killers, at a gathering in October 2023 at Birmitrapur, Odisha, which was sponsored by the Hindu nationalist organization Shaurya Jagran Yatra. Additionally, he spread false beliefs like “Love Jihad” and “Demographic Change,” which hold that Muslims are displacing Hindus in the population. Barna also underlined how “impossible” it is to build constructive ties with the Muslim community.