Vijay Kant Chauhan, a Hindu militant, is a self-styled cow vigilante who also claims to be a ‘protector’ of Hindu girls against the hoax of ‘love jihad.’ 

Dressed in the ‘uniform’ of the Indian army with Jai Shri Ram (Hail Lord Ram) tattooed on his chest and swinging a naked sword in hand, he roams around on colorful bikes spreading the propaganda of ‘love Jihad’ around western parts of Uttar Pradesh state.

Vijay visits schools, coaching institutes, parks, and other public places and spews anti-Muslim hatred under the guise of spreading awareness about ‘love Jihad’ and ‘cow protection’. He administers a kind of oath wherein he asks people to clinch their fists and says, “Imagine that your fist is around a love jihadi’s, traitor’s, neck; imagine that you are squeezing his neck and his blood is dripping on the floor and you are extracting satisfaction and content that you are a true patriot, protector of your religion and servant of Mother India.”

He is among the famous cow vigilantes in Uttar Pradesh who have adopted ‘mob lynching’ (of Muslims) as a means to check the alleged cow smuggling/slaughter in the state. Praising the performance of the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, he says, “India is becoming a cow slaughter-free Hindu Rashtra (under his guidance).”

Vijay claims to enjoy the patronage of Yogi Adityanath,  the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the local administration, and the police. His legal adviser, Poonam Singh Pundhir said, “he gets all kinds of internal support from (local administration).”  She further stated that the police provided him with weapons (country-made pistols) for the cause.

His Islamophobia is more than evident when he says, “Islam is the root of all problems…. all Madrasas (Traditional Islamic institutes of religious learning ) should be shut as they breed terrorism.”

“The day Hindus get rid of the virus of secularism, these bastard Mullahs (Muslim clergy) who live in India and sing praises for Pakistan, these terrorists shall have no route to escape death,” he said.

During the COVID pandemic, he had stated that  Muslims were purposefully spreading corona through their ‘spit jihad’ ( it was widespread propaganda during the COVID pandemic, peddled by the Hindu extremists that Muslims were spreading corona by secretly spitting around Hindu localities) and that the government must declare them terrorists and kill them in a police encounter. Calling for the mass killing of Muslims, he says, “India can ensure peace only by dealing with Muslims in a manner Israel deals with them. If the government hesitates to do it , give us a day we shall hang them all naked on the streets.”