Temple gets bomb threat, posters with the threat pasted on walls and scattered on floor
Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India 
27 January, 2024
Case Summary
On January 28th, six days after the Pran Prathishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya, the Ram Janaki Temple in Kanpur received a bomb threat. Several threatening posters were pasted on the walls and scattered on the temple floor. BJP leader and temple trustee Rohit Sahu also received a threat letter. A programme had been held at the temple on the day of the Pran Prathishtha ceremony. Rohit Sahu's brother, Rahul Sahu, discovered the threat letters and, fearing for safety, closed the temple doors and put up police barricades. The police arrived promptly, confirmed the presence of the threatening posters, and stated they would file a case against the miscreants involved.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
In Hinduism, a temple is the abode of the Deity. The Deity in the Temple is consecrated, thereby, making it a real, breathing entity. Hindus believe that not just the Deity but the temple premises itself are sacred to Hindus since Hindus hold the faith that the entire Temple space is an amalgamation of the divine energy of the deity. Given the central significance of Temples in Hindu Dharma, any attack against a Hindu Temple or its peripheral premises is an attack on the faith itself and is born out of animosity towards the faith, of which, the Temple is a central tenet. Any manner of attack against a Temple and/or its premises would therefore be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. In this case, the temple walls were desecrated with threat posters. Temples are considered sacred spaces where devotees connect with the divine through worship, rituals, and meditation and desecrating a temple is seen as a direct violation of this sanctity and an affront to the deity enshrined within. Since the temple received bomb threats, this case should also fall under the category of terrorism; but, since the perpetrators are unknown, this category has been excluded. The other category this case is being added to is 'hate speech against Hindus' under the sub-category 'violent threats'. Violent threats, explicit, implicit or implied, is the most dangerous form of hate speech since it goes beyond discriminatory and prejudicial language to express the intent of causing harm to an individual or a group of people based on their religious identity and faith. There could be several different kinds of threats that are issued to Hindus based on religious animosity. An explicit threat would mean the direct threat of violence towards an individual Hindu, a group of Hindus or Hindus at large. Physical violence, death threats, threats of destruction of property belonging to Hindus and threats of genocide would mean explicit threats against Hindus for their religious identity. Implicit threats may not be a direct threat but implied through the use of symbols of actions – for example – in the Nupur Sharma case, other than explicit threats, there were also implicit threats when Islamists took to the streets to burn and beat her effigies. It implies that they want to do the same to Nupur Sharma – thereby is considered an implicit threat. Violent threats can be delivered in person, through letters, phone calls, graffiti, or increasingly through social media and other online platforms. It would be important to understand that a threat – explicit or implicit, online or offline – to an individual who happens to be a Hindu does not qualify as a religiously motivated threat. Such a threat, while vile and dangerous, could be owing to non-religious reasons and/or personal animosity. To qualify as a religiously motivated threat, it would need to exhibit an indication that the individual is being targeted for religious reasons and/or owing to his/her religious identity as a Hindu.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Unknown
Perpetrators Range
N/A
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
