Muslim youths hurl casteist slurs, assault Maha Dalit villagers and misbehave with women for asking not to consume intoxicants
Madhubani, Bihar, India 
15 May, 2024
Case Summary
On May 16, in Bisfi, Bihar's Madhubani district, members of the Muslim community assaulted villagers from the Maha Dalit community after Sarwan Kumar Ram, a local, asked them not to consume intoxicants. Apart from assaulting Sarwan Kumar Ram and his family members the accused also hurled casteist abuses and mistreated the women from the victim’s community. The violent incident left several individuals injured. Later that night, the accused, including Mohd. Faiyaz, Mohd. Gufran, Tufail, and eight others attacked Sarwan Kumar Ram's house with sticks and knives, injuring Sarwan and his father, and verbally abusing them with casteist slurs. Sarwan Kumar Ram filed a complaint at Bisfi Police Station, and Police Station Head Avinash Kumar confirmed that an FIR would be registered, and further action would follow. Bisfi MLA Haribhushan Thakur ‘Bachol’ demanded strict action, highlighting that there have been ongoing issues with Muslim miscreants disrupting Hindu functions and threatening the minority Hindu population in the area. He called for the arrest and prosecution of the culprits and mentioned that there have been threats to transfer lands and properties to the Muslim community.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime under two prime categories of the tracker. The first is- Attack not resulting in death. Under this, the sub-category chosen is- Attacked to induce migration from non-Hindu dominated area- There have been cases where the Hindus living in an area, often with a majority dwelling belonging to non-Hindus or those harbouring animosity towards the Hindu faith, the Hindu residents experience threats and violence. The violence is employed with the aim of making the Hindus leave the area and relocate, so the area could be turned into an exclusive ghetto for adherents of the non-Hindu faith or those who harbor animosity towards the Hindu faith. In several cases, the aim of exodus is explicit. However, in several cases, the demand for exodus of Hindu residents is not explicit, however, violence by non-Hindu residents leaves the Hindu residents no option but to leave the area, thereby, turning the area into an exclusive ghetto of non-Hindu residents. In such cases, there are instances violence against the Hindu residents explicitly. For example, in the Hauz Qazi case of 2019, the Muslim residents claimed that mob violence against the Hindu residents had been triggered by a parking dispute. However, the violence did turn religious with a temple being desecrated and was directed specifically against the Hindu residents. The Hindu residents of the area were clear that the violence was religiously motivated and one of the motives was to affect an exodus of the Hindu residents. In such cases, even though the perpetrators have not explicitly expressed the aim of affecting exodus, the given circumstances and violence and precedent point to the intention of exodus and therefore would be categorized under this sub-category. Such crimes are religiously motivated and therefore are hate crimes. The second prime category under which this case has been added is- Hate speech against Hindus. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith- Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. There are two other secondary categories under 'attack not resulting in death' that have been selected in this case. One 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 other is 'attacked for opposing radicals'. In several cases, Hindus are attacked for opposing religiously motivated crimes being committed against a fellow Hindu or simply for voicing an opinion opposing radical elements, who either have in the past or continue to persecute Hindus. In such cases, the initial attack against the victim, against which the Hindu was trying to defend the victim, would also need to be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime. Since the initial crime itself was religiously motivated and the subsequent crime of attempting to save the victim or speaking against the radical elements ends up inviting a violent attack, it would also be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. This incident in Bisfi, Bihar, qualifies as a religiously motivated hate crime as the attackers not only assaulted Sarwan and his family but also hurled casteist slurs and abused women from the community, reflecting deep-seated prejudice rooted in both religious biases. By targeting the Hindus and instilling fear through threats and violent actions, the perpetrators aimed to force the Hindu families to leave their homes, thereby altering the demographic balance in the region. Further, the use of casteist slurs exemplifies the religious animosity driving the crime. Here, it can be argued that a caste-specific slur is aimed at her micro identity of belonging to the Dalit section of the Hindu community and not her Hindu identity itself. However, as far as Abrahamic religions are concerned, the micro identities of caste, region, and language are secondary. It is the religious identity that drives the animosity of the perpetrator against the Hindu victim. In this case, while the Muslim youths hurled caste abuses at the victim, the animosity was driven by his animosity towards Hinduism and Hindus. While the immediate trigger of the violence could be Hindus asking the accused not to consume intoxicants, as mentioned in reports, the fact that caste slurs were hurled at the victim by the perpetrator makes it a religiously motivated hate crime against the victim.
Case Status
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 10 to 100
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
