VHP bars Muslims from Navratri garba in Maharashtra, calls for Aadhaar checks and tilak

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has moved to exclude Muslims from garba and dandiya programmes during Navratri across Maharashtra, directing event organisers to enforce identity checks and mark attendees with a tilak to confirm they are Hindu.

Shriraj Nair, the VHP’s national spokesperson and joint secretary, told The Indian Express that the organisation had resolved to prevent Muslim participation in the festivities, arguing that Navratri is fundamentally a religious observance centred on goddess worship and not merely a cultural dance event. “Why should Muslims who are against idol worship participate in the festival?” he asked, adding that the move was meant to protect what the VHP sees as Hindu cultural heritage from being “diluted”.

Under the new guidelines, organisers are being asked to verify participants through Aadhaar checks and to apply a sandalwood tilak on their foreheads as a condition of entry. Nair described the measures as precautionary rather than communal, while reiterating the VHP’s hardline stance on issues such as religious conversion and cow slaughter. He also suggested that Muslims who wish to celebrate Navratri should do so within their own communities and places of worship, accompanied by family members.

The directive arrives against the backdrop of a broader push by Hindutva groups to police garba events, with some right-wing voices invoking the term “Garba Jihad” to allege that Muslim men attend such gatherings to hide their identity or form relationships with Hindu women.

Last year’s Navratri season saw multiple reported incidents of exclusion and violence: a Kashmiri Muslim student was assaulted after attending a garba event in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh; Muslim attendees were allegedly attacked at a function in Mira Road, Mumbai; and VHP and Bajrang Dal members reportedly raided a garba in Indore, beating a Muslim man over accusations of concealed identity and “love jihad”. In Ahmedabad, Bajrang Dal activists targeted Muslim bouncers at garba venues, demanding their removal, while in Jagdalpur and Surat, Muslim men and musicians were reportedly barred from events or forced to leave after objections from right-wing groups. In Kota, Rajasthan, two Muslim women holding valid passes were denied entry to a garba event on the grounds that they were non-Hindus.