Dalit man’s wedding procession attacked by Muslim mob over DJ music, casteist slurs hurled
Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India 
14 July, 2024
Case Summary
In Rasulpur village, Meerut district, a Muslim mob attacked a Dalit man's wedding procession for playing DJ music, injuring several people, including women. The altercation began when Muslim youths made videos and obscene comments about girls dancing at the wedding, leading to a dispute with Dalit youths. Although the conflict was initially resolved, it reignited the next day as stones were thrown at the wedding procession of Sachin Jatav. Hariram Jatav filed a complaint accusing the mob of stone-pelting and using casteist slurs. Police registered an FIR, took three suspects into custody, and deployed personnel to maintain order. CO Saurabh Singh and police officers intervened, sending the injured to the hospital and ensuring the wedding procession continued. Rural SP Kamlesh Bahadur confirmed the complaint involved one and a half dozen named and eight unidentified individuals.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under two prime categories, based on the case details. The first is- Attack not resulting in death. Under this, the first sub-category selected 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 second sub-category selected here is- Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victims. 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. The second primary category relevant here is- Hate speech against Hindus and 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. This incident has been categorized as a religiously motivated hate crime due to the clear hostility exhibited toward Hindu cultural practices and the participants in the wedding procession. The attack began with harassment, including filming and making lewd comments about women in the procession, escalating into violence when the Dalit community opposed this behaviour. The symbolic aggression displayed by stone-pelting and targeting a Hindu ceremony underscores an intrinsic animosity toward the Hindu faith. Such incidents highlight deep-seated prejudice against Hindus, justifying its inclusion in the tracker under relevant categories. Further, the case details reveal that casteist slurs were hurled at the victims. It can be argued here 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 mob hurled caste abuses at the victims, the animosity was driven by his animosity towards Hinduism and Hindus. While the immediate trigger of the violence could be the "DJ music" as mentioned in reports, the fact that caste slurs were hurled at the victims by the perpetrators 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
unknown
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