As the world comes to terms with the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a prominent conservative commentator and youth leader closely aligned with Donald Trump, a darker, deeply unsettling trend has surfaced on social media platforms like X. The incident, which occurred on 11 September 2025, at Utah Valley University, has drawn widespread condemnation globally. But in certain corners of Indian social media, it has become a springboard for perverse fantasies targeting Indian right-wing voices, particularly J Sai Deepak and Anand Ranganathan.
While civil societies mourned Kirk’s death and reflected on the growing threats to free speech, a segment of India’s so-called progressive and liberal users on X used the moment to engage in macabre wish-fulfillment.
Starting the very day of the assassination, several Indian users began posting comments eerily imagining similar fates for Indian public figures known for their nationalist and conservative views. The names most frequently targeted were J Sai Deepak, a constitutional lawyer and author, and Anand Ranganathan, a scientist and outspoken political commentator.
Among the grotesque posts:
One user commented, “Thinking about J Sai Deepak and Anand Ranganathan today.”
Another user quipped, “Charlie Kirk was Mr. Sinha / That chutia Tau / ANI wali aunty / J Sai Deepak / iyerwal of USA.”
Another user wrote, “J Sai Deepak has died at the age of 31 after being shot, Donald Trump announces,” accompanied by a photo of Deepak.
Another user said, “When will J Sai Deepak, Anand Ranganathan, Vivek Agnihotri, Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, Smita Prakash, Arnab Goswami & Mayukh Ranjan of India receive the same fatal treatment as Charlie Kirk of the USA? Need of the hour.”
Another mocked, “Someone compared the killing of Charlie Kirk to J Sai Deepak being killed while talking about urban Naxals in an MP college.”
One post even questioned why flags were lowered in the U.S. after Kirk’s death, sarcastically adding, “That’s like Modi announcing all Indian flags to be lowered if J Sai Deepak died.”
These posts weren’t satire or slip-ups they revealed something far more disturbing, a fetishization of violence and a thinly veiled celebration of ideological murder.
Senior advocate J Sai Deepak, upon seeing the coordinated attack, responded by sharing screenshots of several comments and dryly noting, “Apparently this has been going on since yesterday :-)” a response that conveyed both awareness and a grim familiarity with the hate he routinely attracts.
Apparently this has been going on since yesterday 🙂 pic.twitter.com/WGEgYBhUgL
— Sai Deepak J (@jsaideepak) September 12, 2025
Supporters swiftly rallied behind him, expressing outrage at the normalization of murder fantasies. Some users who had posted the offensive content silently deleted their posts once called out, hoping to evade accountability.
This isn’t an isolated incident of trolling. What we’re witnessing is part of a broader, toxic culture one where ideological opposition justifies dehumanization, and disagreement quickly devolves into digital bloodlust.
Figures like Deepak and Ranganathan, both of whom present reasoned, articulate challenges to the left-liberal consensus, have long been demonized. But these recent posts expose how far political hatred has metastasized in some circles.
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