Stones pelted at Ganpati immersion procession in Jalgaon, Maharashtra
Jalgaon Jamod, Maharashtra, India 
16 September, 2024
Case Summary
On September 17th, the stone-pelting incident that happened during the Ganpati immersion procession in Jalgaon Jamod, Buldhana district, created significant tension in the city. In response, 15 Ganesha mandals decided to withhold idol immersion until action was taken against the culprits, halting processions on the city's main streets. The incident occurred on the 17th evening after unidentified individuals turned off the lights and began pelting stones during the Ganpati Visarjan procession. Eyewitnesses reported that the stones were thrown from the window of a high-rise building. The attack injured three policemen and several devotees, while the vehicles in the procession also sustained severe damage. Following the attack, the 15 prominent Ganesh Mandals who withheld the processions demanded swift action against those responsible. They firmly stated they would not proceed with the immersion until justice was served. The idols till the next day remained stationed on the main road, with heavy police deployment in place to maintain order. The administration even after this failed to take action for a long time which enraged the Hindu Mandals who had stalled the procession.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the Hinduphobia tracker under its prime category of 'Attack not resulting in death'. Under this, the first sub-category selected is- Attack on religious procession. The outward celebration and display of religious symbols in an intrinsic part of Hinduism. Religious processions on various festivals are age-old traditions and a way to manifest faith and form a part of the religious practices of Hindus. On several occasions, such religious processions come under attack by non-Hindu mobs, in a manifestation of their animosity towards Hinduism and their practices. The reasons cited for such violent attacks are many and range from crossing a non-Hindu resident-dominated area to playing loud music, crossing from an area where there is a religious structure of another faith etc. The violent attacks are triggered by the outward display of religiosity by Hindus. The attacks are mainly a manifestation of religious supremacist doctrine which believes that idolatry, essentially the Hindu faith, is one that deserves to be annihilated since the very tenets of Hinduism, its practices and traditions are considered a sin in those doctrines. Since these attacks emanate from intrinsic and doctrinal animosity towards Hindus and Hinduism, it is considered a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. Further, the case has been placed under another sub-category within the above-mentioned prime category, namely- Attack on Hindu devotees. Hindu devotees are a few of the easiest targets of religiously motivated hate crimes because during the festival/procession/puja etc, for non-Hindus it is easy to profile their victims on the basis of religion. Hindu devotees come under attack on several occasions by individual non-Hindus or mobs of non-Hindus owing to their animosity against Hinduism, its symbols and tradition/practices. There are several instances of Hindu devotees being attacked while they worship in temples or temporary religious structures, during religious processions, doing bhajan/kirtan/puja in their own homes, in the residential society etc. These attacks are perpetrated by non-Hindus primarily because of their animosity towards Hindus and their faith. In some cases, the trigger for the violence may be non-religious, however, there are two elements that make these hate crimes. First, the Hindus who come under attack are attacked violently while indulging in religious activity. Whether they are in a place of worship or not is immaterial to the crime. When individuals are attacked while indulging in religious practices, the attack in itself is a hindrance to their freedom to practice religion and therefore constitutes a hate crime. Secondly, religious supremacist doctrines and ideologies deem religious practices of Hindus to be offensive ab initio since they are considered “sinful” by these ideologies, worthy to be annihilated by force or coercion. Driven by these religious supremacist ideologies and doctrines, the attacks against Hindu devotees stem from intrinsic animosity towards Hinduism. In some cases, the trigger for the violence may be non-religious, however, it develops into a religiously motivated crime during the course of the violence. Since these attacks stem from animosity towards Hindus and Hinduism, they are considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. In this case, stones were pelted at a religious procession which led to communal tension in the area. Pertinently, the Hindus were simply carrying out their religious procession and the attack against it was unprovoked, leading to many devotees and police officials being injured. An attack on a religious procession of Hindus is an assault on the religious identity of Hindus and infringes upon their right to practice religion. Since such attacks are driven by religious animosity and hostility, it is documented as a hate crime. It is also important to mention here that though the last update was that the miscreants were unknown, regardless, the action stemmed out of hatred against Hinduism and resulted in the attack on a Hindu religious procession and would therefore be considered a religiously motivated hate crime.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Unknown
Perpetrators Range
N/A
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
