Hindu youths carrying Ganesh idol assaulted, stones pelted on Ganesh idols by Muslim men in Kutch, Gujrat

Case ID : 04aeee7 | Location : Kutch district, Gujarat, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 5 September, 2024

Case ID : 04aeee7

Kutch district, Gujarat, India

5 September, 2024

Hindu youths carrying Ganesh idol assaulted, stones pelted on Ganesh idols by Muslim men in Kutch, Gujrat

Attack not resulting in death

Attack against Hindu devotees

Attacked for Hindu identity

Attack on Hindu religious representations

Desecration of Hindu religious symbol

Case Summary

In Gujarat's Kutch district, an incident involving an Islamist attack on Hindu youths was reported in the Mundra area. The injured youth, Yuvraj Singh Jadeja, filed a police complaint against several individuals, including Hamja and Farooq, following an assault on him and his two friends while they were returning home after purchasing a Ganesh idol for the Ganesh Utsav celebration. According to Yuvraj's complaint, after buying the idol, the group was travelling in a tempo when they encountered a bike blocking the road near a petrol pump. Despite the tempo driver honking to request the bike be moved, the individuals blocking the path refused to comply. Yuvraj got out to plead with them to clear the way, which escalated into a verbal argument. During the confrontation, a member of the crowd became aggressive, shouting and ultimately attacking Yuvraj with an iron pipe, injuring him on the right shoulder. Others in the crowd started pelting stones at the Hindu youths. One attacker brandished a sword, threatening the group and declaring they would not be allowed to leave alive. Yuvraj reported that the attack intensified upon the realisation that they were carrying a Hindu idol. He added that stones were also pelted at the vehicle carrying the Ganesh idol. Yuvraj and his friends managed to protect the idol from being damaged. The police arrested two suspects and registered an FIR against Hamja, Farooq, and three unknown individuals under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), including those related to assault and intimidation.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category- Attack not resulting in death. The sub-category relevant in this case is- Attack against 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. The other sub-category selected is- Attacked for Hindu identity. In several cases, Hindus are attacked merely for their Hindu identity without any perceived provocation. A classic example of this category of religiously motivated hate crime is a murder in 2016. 7 ISIS terrorists were convicted for shooting a school principal in Kanpur because they got ‘triggered’ seeing the Kalava on his wrist and tilak that he had put. In this, the Hindu victim had offered no provocation except for his Hindu religious identity. The motivation for the murder was purely religious, driven by religious supremacy. Such cases where Hindus are targeted merely for their religious identity would be documented as a hate crime under this category. The second primary category under which this case has been placed is- Attack on Hindu religious representations, and within this, the sub-category selected is- Desecration of Hindu religious symbol. Icons and symbols or a religious representation of a spiritual ideal are widely revered in Hinduism. Iconography is of vital significance in the Hindu milieu. It helps connect people’s spiritual beliefs with the real world. Iconography within the Hindu faith takes several shapes and forms. Murtis are of most significance to Hindus, to which daily rituals, prayers and offerings are done. Besides the murtis, there are several other symbols which have deep significance in the Hindu faith – the Om and Swastika for example. Since these Hindu religious symbols hold paramount importance in Hinduism, any desecration of symbols, icons, murtis, religious representations and manifestations, is driven by animosity towards the faith itself which manifests itself through these murtis, icons and symbols. Therefore, any desecration of these Hindu religious symbols and representations is considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. This incident is a hate crime against Hindus because the victims were specifically attacked while engaged in an act of religious devotion—carrying an idol of Lord Ganesha for Ganesh Utsav. In this case, the aggression escalated upon the assailants noticing the idol, indicating that the violence was not random but targeted at their religious activity. The attack directly hindered the devotees’ ability to practice their religion freely, which itself constitutes a hate crime. The religious animosity motivating the attackers, rooted in the perception of Hindu practices as “sinful” or objectionable, marks this as an attack against Hindu devotees rather than a generic act of violence. The Hindu victims were targeted for their Hindu identity, symbolised by their carrying of a Ganesh idol. Even if a minor dispute over road use triggered the confrontation, the presence of the idol transformed the attack into one motivated by religious identity. The escalation—stone pelting and threatening with swords—shows that the Hindus were assaulted not merely as individuals in a quarrel but as representatives of their faith. The Hindu identity, made visible through the idol, was the basis of the aggression. The attack thus represents violence stemming from religious supremacist hostility to the mere fact of being Hindu. The Ganesh idol carried by the devotees was not just an object but a sacred religious symbol revered by Hindus. When the attackers hurled stones and launched their assault while the idol was in possession of the devotees, it amounted to an act of desecration. Even if the idol was not physically destroyed, the act of violence directed at devotees in possession of it constitutes symbolic desecration, since it conveyed contempt and animosity towards Hindu religious iconography. Hindu murtis and symbols are manifestations of the divine, and any act of violence that threatens or defiles them is an assault on Hindu faith itself. By targeting the idol and those carrying it, the attackers demonstrated religious hostility towards Hindu practices and beliefs. Hence, this case is categorised as a hate crime against Hindus. Disclaimer: As per the available information, the FIR in this case was registered against two named accused and three unknown individuals. Hence, the victim count has been selected as 2 for documentation purposes.