New Delhi: Nazia Elahi Khan, a member of the BJP Minority Morcha, called on Hindu families to “start raising pigs” and “use scissors” to keep Muslims away in a speech at a public rally in Ghaziabad this week. The remarks, delivered over a loudspeaker, were met with chants of “Jai Shri Ram.”
The video was uploaded on 6 April by Elahi on her X and Instagram accounts, where she describes herself as an “unapologetic Indian”. One of the few Muslim members of the Hindu right-wing influencer ecosystem, with over 3 lakh Instagram followers, she has racked up several controversies in the last couple of years with her fiery speeches and public showdowns.
The caption to her latest speech read, in Hindi: “Hindus should start raising pigs in their homes; these ‘madrasa types’ will run away on their own after seeing that. Even then, if they come in your sight, then complete the circumcision, because half of it is cut in their childhood.
Of late, Elahi has been posting a number of public speeches and is often seen protected by police as she travels around in a truck. She has announced on Instagram that she is part of a “Hindu Dharam tour” starting from Loni in Ghaziabad, organised by the Hindu Rashtra Dal. In another video from Kanpur, she wrote as a caption: “I swear by Bhavani that no ummah will be able to look down upon Hindu daughters.”
But before this turn, she was known as a ‘triple talaq crusader’.
While Elahi, who also goes by Nazia Sanatani, frames herself as a reformer of Muslim practices and institutions such as madrasas, Waqf, and triple talaq, she is now largely known for her invectives against ‘love jihad’ and other hate speech against Muslims.
The lawyer first rose to prominence about a decade ago when she represented petitioner Ishrat Jahan in the triple talaq case; the Supreme Court struck down the practice in 2017. At the time, both Elahi and Jahan reported being harassed by members of their community, and in 2018, both joined the BJP.
“Mere judgement by a court will not change the society. It will change the attitude of the people. In my case they have become even more hostile mocking and ridiculing me,” Jahan had said shortly after the Supreme Court’s verdict.
However, in 2021, Elahi was arrested for allegedly cheating a Kolkata man of Rs 6 lakh by posing as a lawyer to help with his matrimonial case. She reportedly took the money from 2019 onward but neither expedited the case nor provided legal aid, and later threatened him. She was booked on charges including criminal conspiracy, cheating by personation, criminal intimidation, and common intention.
Over the last couple of years, her public image has been refashioned into that of a firebrand voice of the Hindu right.
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A slew of controversies
From comments on interfaith relations to the purported sexual proclivities of Pakistanis, Elahi has become known for her online rants and public speeches. While many accuse her of inciting hatred, she is also widely cheered on. It has also landed her in trouble a few times.
In 2024, she became a vocal supporter of the Uttar Pradesh government’s order requiring eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display owner names, and was allegedly issued “sar tan se juda” (sever head from body) threats by Muslim groups. Around this time, she also made derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad. In September that year, she was arrested after a complaint of outraging religious sentiments and insulting religious figures.
Last December, she was back in the news after a series of X posts in which she alleged that she faced “mini jihad” at Mumbai airport from Muslim IndiGo employees, and that the airline’s hiring practices posed a threat to national security.
The owner of Indigo should listen to the Muslims supporters of bharat and pakistan and blacklist me!
Because I'm not going to keep quiet!
Whenever the Ummah employees of Indigo show me their Jihadi mentality!
That's when I'll take off their hijab!
It’s a challenge 🫵… pic.twitter.com/KOcoic5k74
— Nazia Elahi Khan (सनातनी) (@ElahiNazia1) December 22, 2025
In February this year, her videos of taking a holy dip at the Kumbh and visiting the Ujjain Mahakal temple went viral on social media, as did her allegation that Muslim men followed her vehicle and intentionally caused an accident en route to the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj. Kanpur Dehat police stated that the complaint was unsubstantiated.
On the way to kumbh I have been targeted by peaceful community 🙏
Help me @myogioffice pic.twitter.com/ZP1cBKWBCZ
— Nazia Elahi Khan (सनातनी) (@ElahiNazia1) February 24, 2025
Of late, Elahi has focused her diatribes on the March 2026 marriage of Monalisa Bhosle — the ‘Kumbh girl’ who went viral selling rudraksha — and actor Farman Khan in Kerala, calling it “love jihad”.
In one of her latest Instagram videos, Elahi claimed she was being issued threats of beheading by “two gay men from a Pakistani terrorist organization”. The video, captioned “80% Pakistani men are gay,” received over 16,000 likes and 1,500 comments.
In January, ahead of the Delhi elections, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) filed a complaint with Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer against Elahi for a speech she delivered at a “Chetna” group event in Rohini. In her address, Elahi said that Muslims were inherently violent and warned Hindus to teach their daughters that “no Abdul is good”.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)