Hindu man shot dead by Islamic terrorists in Kashmir, was buying milk

Case ID : 0b6707e | Location : Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 28 May, 2023

Case ID : 0b6707e

Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir, India

28 May, 2023

Hindu man shot dead by Islamic terrorists in Kashmir, was buying milk

Attack resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

On May 29, 2023, 27-year-old Sham Deepu Kumar from Udhampur was shot dead by Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir while he was buying milk. He was taken to the hospital but succumbed to his injuries. Deepu Kumar worked at a private circus fair near Janglat Mandi in Anantnag. The lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, granted Rs 5 lakh to his family. Deepu, from the isolated Thial village in Majalta, was the sole breadwinner for his pregnant wife, blind father, visually impaired sibling, and their families, who lived in a one-story mud house.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

Terrorism as a religiously motivated hate crime is when violence or the threat of violence is used by individuals or groups who are driven by religious ideologies. This form of terrorism specifically targets individuals or groups based on their religion or religious beliefs. In Kashmir, Islamic terrorism specifically targets the Hindus in the valley owing to their religious identity. Hindus have been victims of targeted violence and killing owing to their religious identity. The LeT’s professed ideology goes beyond merely challenging India's sovereignty over the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The Lashkar's ‘agenda’, as outlined in a pamphlet titled Why are we waging jihad includes the restoration of Islamic rule over all parts of India. Further, the outfit seeks to bring about a union of all Muslim-majority regions in countries that surround Pakistan. 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. Given that Islamic terrorism attacks individuals in Kashmir specifically for their religious identity, this is being categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime.