‘Corporate jihad’ vs Ashok Kharat: Sena (UBT) alleges double standards, targets Mahayuti’s ‘selective Hindutva’

The editorial referred to allegations that some Muslim employees at a multinational IT firm in Nashik lured Hindu women with promises of jobs, subjected them to sexual exploitation, forced dietary practices and attempted religious conversion.

The controversy triggered protests, sharp political reactions, and calls for stringent action, including demands for wider probes.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) said the allegations are serious and warrant strict punishment. However, it argued that the response was “immediate, loud and politically amplified”, driven by the identity of the accused.

In contrast, the editorial cited the Kharat case, where the Nashik-based godman has been accused of sexually exploiting multiple women over an extended period under the guise of religious practices.

Detailing the allegations, the editorial said women were subjected to abuse in the name of rituals such as “tantra-mantra”, “yoni puja” and “shuddhikaran”. It alleged the use of intoxicants to render victims unconscious, followed by exploitation, filming of explicit videos, and subsequent blackmail and threats.

The editorial claimed that more than 100 such videos had surfaced and that even pregnant women were among the victims. It further alleged that individuals from influential backgrounds, including officials and their families, were linked to the network, sometimes approaching the godman for favours such as transfers and promotions.

The editorial also referred to the Erande case in Nashik, where another accused was arrested with over 100 obscene videos. He is alleged to have lured women with promises of jobs, business assistance or financial help, and then exploited and blackmailed them.

Despite the scale and seriousness of these allegations, the Sena said, there was no comparable mobilisation or sustained outrage from those who claim to defend Hindutva.

Outrage depends on identity

Building its core argument, the editorial alleged that the seriousness of crimes is being judged through a political lens. “When the accused is Muslim, there are cries of ‘jihad’, protests, and demands for SIT probes. But when Hindu godmen are accused of exploiting women, the issue is dismissed as superstition or treated as an isolated matter,” it said.

It also took a swipe at BJP leaders such as Nitesh Rane and Gopichand Padalkar, accusing them of aggressively foregrounding cases like the Nashik IT controversy, while remaining silent on the Kharat and Erande allegations.

The editorial used strong language to describe what it called “hypocrisy” among sections claiming to represent Hindutva, accusing them of ignoring exploitation carried out by “self-styled Hindu babas” while mobilising politically in other cases.

It also alleged that some political figures and their families had, in the past, been associated with such godmen, sharpening its attack on the ruling establishment.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) said the developments point to the emergence of “two definitions of Hindutva”—one that is invoked aggressively in political battles, and another that remains silent when confronted with wrongdoing within its own fold. It argued that such selectivity undermines both justice and the credibility of those claiming to defend religious values.

Calling for consistency, the editorial said those raising slogans over the Nashik IT case must also condemn cases like Kharat and Erande with equal force. “If there is genuine concern for justice, then those claiming to defend Hindutva must first clean their own house,” it said, adding that silence in such cases amounts to complicity.

The editorial ended with a pointed assertion: crimes against women, it said, cannot be viewed through a communal lens and must remain “religion-neutral”.