In February 2026, a political worker belonging to the right wing filed a complaint with the Nashik City police that a female Hindu employee working at the BPO arm of TCS (Satpur MIDC unit) was being pressured to observe fasts in the month of Ramadan. Following this tip-off, the Nashik police started a 40-day covert operation (including female police officers disguised as cleaning staff) to verify the allegations. Apparently, the police team found patterns of sexual misconduct and coercion involving Muslim team leaders and other Muslim staff, which prima facie corroborated the allegations in the tipoff by the political worker. Following this, nine FIRs were filed (eight by women, one by a male) between late March and early April 2026, against certain Muslim employees of TCS Nashik, detailing sexual exploitation, unwanted physical contact, and religious pressure, including forced consumption of non-vegetarian food, between 2022 and 2026.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) arrested seven employees, including team leaders, agents and an HR staffer. TCS suspended all employees under investigation, stating a zero-tolerance policy and is reportedly cooperating with authorities.
Once this news reached the media, it suddenly blew up into a raging national controversy with TV anchors crying hoarse with blaring accusations of “corporate jihad” and “love jihad”. The entire mainstream media (backed by IT Cell & Co.) successfully set the narrative that Muslims have entered the corporate sector in a big way and are carrying out forced conversions of Hindu girls and also sexually harassing and exploiting them.
9 FIRs for Zero Complaints
Let us try to understand why the TCS Nashik case is a textbook case of “Manufacturing Consent” (Media aligns with power structures) and “Narrative Construction” (ideological scripting of events). First, let us examine the nature of allegations. They include, workplace harassment, sexual misconduct and religious coercion / conversion. These are not ordinary allegations. They are highly sensitive and cannot remain under the carpet for years together as is alleged.
This especially looks improbable in a workplace where Muslims constitute a small minority of the entire staff strength. More importantly, there is a total lack of internal documentation supporting claims, raising serious doubt about the credibility and escalation process of the allegations being made against the Muslim staff members.
TCS is a highly reputed multinational that follows the most advanced corporate procedures with a sophisticated structured grievance system. It has an email-based complaint escalation process, different HR channels, POSH committees and ethics committees. If such nefarious activities were being carried out by members of the minority Muslim community in the company there should have been multiple complaints against any one of these Muslim staff. The fact of the matter is that zero complaints were filed. No POSH or ethics complaints were recorded.
Scapegoating Nida Khan
Every anti-Muslim narrative must have a “kingpin” or a “mastermind” for it to become popular. A narrative is ultimately a story and needs reinforcement through the building up of strong characters. Nida Khan, a young scarf-wearing Muslim professional working in India’s premier IT company in the role of “HR manager” for waging “corporate jihad” against Hindus was the perfect villain of the story. Unfortunately (for the right wing), this narrative fell flat with TCS revealing in its official clarification on its Nashik BPO unit controversy that Nida Khan was just a “tele-caller” and had nothing to do with the HR department.
In his social media channel, veteran journalist, Niranjan Takale says, “The police first said that Nida Khan was working as the HR head in TCS. Now TCS has already given a clarification that Nida Khan was not an HR head at all. She had no authority over any employee. When the media and police were saying she was absconding, at that time she was in Mumbai with her parents for a pregnancy-related matter. The police did not even go to her house, and without going there they kept spreading that she is absconding. Now look at the absurdity, the police conducted a covert investigation, sending women officers disguised as housekeeping staff into TCS for weeks, keeping surveillance inside the office. Some people called it a sting operation. Then show the videos of that sting, present them in court. But even after doing such a covert investigation for weeks, these foolish police officers could not even find out that Nida Khan was just a tele-operator and not an HR head. It should have been known even before filing the FIR. Instead, they first filed the FIR, wanted to arrest her, called her HR head, called her mastermind. (It means) everything was already decided. If she was not connected to the HR department, then she had no authority to receive complaints, no authority to act on complaints, nothing at all. Then why is she being arrested in this case?”
Truth will Prevail
Nadeem Khan,National Secretary APCR, asked some very important questions while addressing the media in Mumbai. He said, “As a practising Muslim, I fail to understand how anyone can force someone to keep a roza? A person has to go day hours without water, without food… this is not something that can be forced. Roza is such a practice that no one can watch or monitor… so how can this practice be pressured on someone? It is beyond imagination.”
On this very “beyond imagination” claim, the police file an FIR. “That FIR is not from the complainant saying that I am being forced to keep roza… the complainant is not the victim… not the victim’s family… a third party comes and files a complaint.”
No one says “I am being forced,” and no victim directly approaches the police. Despite this, “across the country, wherever Muslims are working in the corporate sector, they are being put in a suspicious position.”This is “not limited to Nashik… not limited to Maharashtra,” but becomes an “extended pattern.” The question then arises: “In TCS Pune, in TCS Mumbai, which HR manager will entertain the resumes of Muslims?”
This becomes “one arrow hitting multiple targets.” “The issue on which inquiry should have happened… the self-proclaimed godman… no one is talking about that. To divert that, on a basis on which an FIR itself should not exist, you file one FIR after another, arrest people.”
The role of media is seen in the same frame: “The way corporate media has reported this… it is like the phase of imagination… stories are being built.” There are also serious questions about the police and investigation agencies: “Which investigation agency should we expect justice from?” The same agency that files an FIR “on a baseless third-party doubt” is now conducting the investigation.
Even basic facts remain unclear – “the main conspirator’s position in the organisation is not clear” – yet “full stories are being created.” In this entire process, “it appears this is a complete political conspiracy… in which the role of the police is more doubtful than that of TCS employees.” The result is that “within a shelf life of 15–20 days, a narrative gets set – that there was a conversion racket in the corporate sector.” Later, “when these people are released, no one will talk about it… when the theory is refuted, no one will cover it.” Therefore, the demand is clear: “We do not have any trust in Nashik Police… if the state is serious, the inquiry should be done by a retired judge… not by the police… because this entire Pandora’s box has been opened by the police itself.”