Not Hindustan, Lynchistan: Iltija Mufti after Bengali Muslim man killed in Odisha

New Delhi,UPDATED: Dec 26, 2025 19:06 IST

A day after a Bengali Muslim migrant worker was killed in Odisha over suspicion of being a Bangladeshi, Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter, Iltija, stirred controversy by calling India - rather than Bharat or Hindustan - "Lynchistan."

"Not India or Bharat nor Hindustan. Thy name is Lynchistaan," Mufti tweeted, along with a picture of the man who was lynched in Odisha amid suspicions that the deceased was an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh.

A co-worker who was present when 19-year-old Juel Sheikh was killed in Sambalpur district has alleged that the attack on them started with a demand for identity proof, amid suspicions that the labourers were Bangladeshi nationals.

Majhar Khan, one of the injured labourers from West Bengal's Murshidabad district, said the assailants first asked them for a bidi and then demanded to see their Aadhaar cards. "The miscreants first asked bidi from us and then asked me to show our Aadhaar cards. Later, they rammed Juel Sheikh's head against a hard object," Khan told news agency PTI.

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Inputs from Sunil Bhatt