Hindus collecting donation for Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha event attacked by Muslim mob, 1 killed

Case ID : 0b67116 | Location : Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 13 January, 2024

Case ID : 0b67116

Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, India

13 January, 2024

Hindus collecting donation for Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha event attacked by Muslim mob, 1 killed

Attack resulting in death

Attack on religious procession

Case Summary

In Unnao, Uttar Pradesh Hindu man Vinod Kashyap was killed and several others were injured. The incident occurred on January 14, when Vinod, his brother, and others were collecting donations for a local temple event on January 22, the day of the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony. They raised slogans of "Jai Shri Ram". Irked by this, the Muslim mob attacked the Hindus. Vinod's brother stated that Kale Khan and his companions were angered by the slogans and attacked them. Vinod's wife, Preeti, stated that Vinod was attacked with bricks and stones when he tried to rescue his brother. Following her complaint, the police arrested Kale Khan, Chhotu Khan, Suhail, and Jamshed.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

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 and the deaths due to the attacks emanate from intrinsic and doctrinal animosity towards Hindus and Hinduism, it is considered a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. In this case, the victims who came under attack were specifically performing a religious task - which is collecting donations for a local temple event to celebrate the religiously significant consecration ceremony of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, which was being built after 500 years of struggle by the Hindus to reclaim their holy site. According to the testimony of eyewitnesses, the Hindus were attacked specifically because their raising Jai Shree Ram slogans irked the Muslim mob. Since the trigger of the violence itself was religious, this case is categorized as a religiously motivated hate crime.