Hindu family assaulted for exercising their voting right, Muslim men hurt identity based slurs

Case ID : 0b6719f | Location : Nuh, Haryana, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 20 June, 2024

Case ID : 0b6719f

Nuh, Haryana, India

20 June, 2024

Hindu family assaulted for exercising their voting right, Muslim men hurt identity based slurs

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for supporting/being part of perceived Hindu party/org or working for Hindu community

Hate speech against Hindus

Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith

Case Summary

A Hindu family in Akerda village, Nuh, Haryana, was attacked at their shop for voting for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recent Lok Sabha elections. Manoj, a family member, was assaulted by villagers Mausam, Shahid, and Arfat after he revealed his vote for BJP. They also abused him using casteist slurs. His family members including his father Ramkishan rushed to help him but they were also attacked. Ramkishan’s 8-month-old pregnant daughter-in-law was also physically assaulted during the attack. Nearby residents rescued the family, and the pregnant woman was treated at Nalhad Medical College. Despite reporting the incident, the family revealed police inaction and pressure to alter their statements.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This particular case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under two prime categories of the tracker because of the various distinct components that demonstrate the perpetrator's bias against the Hindu faith. The first is- Attack not resulting in death and under this, the sub-category selected is- Attacked for supporting/being part of perceived Hindu party/org or working for Hindu community- In several cases, Hindus are attacked specifically or tangentially for their association with parties or organisations perceived to be pro-Hindu and/or for working in favour of the Hindu community. One of the classic cases was the attack against a Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha (BJYM) worker Praveen Nettaru. Nettaru was attacked and hacked to death for his association with Hindu organizations and his work for the Hindu community. He was murdered by PFI, a terror organization which aimed to commit a genocide of Hindus, target Hindu leaders specifically and turn India into an Islamic Nation. In such cases, it is possible that the immediate trigger for the violence is non-religious – either according to the perpetrator or the police. However, there are surrounding circumstances from which the conclusion can be reached that the victim was attacked for his association with a Hindu organization. In a similar case, Rinku Sharma was attacked by radicals. He was a member of Bajrang Dal and regularly worked for the Hindu community. While the police cited a different non-religious trigger for the attack, it is true that he was associated with a Hindu organization and the family of Rinku Sharma specifically attributed his gruesome murder to him working for Bajrang Dal and raising Jai Shree Ram slogans. Such cases are intrinsically driven by religious hate and would therefore be documented as a hate crime under this category. The second prime category relevant here is- Hate speech against Hindus. Under this, the sub-category chosen 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. This incident constitutes a religiously motivated hate crime as the Hindu family was specifically attacked for supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is often perceived as representing Hindu interests. The attack, which even extended to a pregnant woman in the family, demonstrates the perpetrators' attempt to intimidate and punish the family for their political and religious identity. The assailants not only physically assaulted Manoj and his family but also hurled anti-Hindu slurs, reflecting deep-seated disdain for their religious identity. 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. While the immediate trigger of the violence could be the victim's allegiance to the BJP 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.