Hindu woman journalist reports harassment and threats to induce migration from her Muslim dominated neighbourhood

Case ID : 0b67525 | Location : Malad, Maharashtra, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 27 July, 2024

Case ID : 0b67525

Malad, Maharashtra, India

27 July, 2024

Hindu woman journalist reports harassment and threats to induce migration from her Muslim dominated neighbourhood

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked to induce migration from non-Hindu dominated area

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

Hindu journalist Amrapali Sharma shared videos on social media exposing harassment and life threats from radical Muslims in her Malad, Maharashtra neighbourhood. She stated she was targeted for her Hindu identity, facing an existential threat from local Muslims. According to her, Muslims in the area were harassing Hindus, forcing them to sell their homes and businesses or leave the area. Sharma stated that she was being harassed for feeding animals, but believed it was more about targeting her as a Hindu woman. She named individuals like Mohammad Khan and Aysha Turki for making communal remarks against Hindus and shared videos showing confrontations over her feeding stray animals. Sharma advised against buying homes in Muslim-dominated areas like Malvani, Malad, and Mumbra, calling them unsafe for women. She expressed frustration over the lack of action against those threatening her, adding that she carried pepper spray for protection. Last year, she contemplated suicide due to the harassment. Sharma concluded by stating that if anything happened to her, the local community targeting her would be responsible. She has worked with major news channels like Aaj Tak and IBN7.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

Distinct elements in this particular case demonstrate that the crime was committed while harbouring a bias against the Hindu faith. Because of the case's specifics, this case has been placed under the prime category 'attack not resulting in death'. Within this category, the first sub-category selected here is- Attacked to induce migration from non-Hindu dominated area- There have been cases where the Hindus living in an area, often with a majority dwelling belonging to non-Hindus or those harbouring animosity towards the Hindu faith, the Hindu residents experience threats and violence. The violence is employed with the aim of making the Hindus leave the area and relocate, so the area could be turned into an exclusive ghetto for adherents of the non-Hindu faith or those who harbor animosity towards the Hindu faith. In several cases, the aim of exodus is explicit. However, in several cases, the demand for exodus of Hindu residents is not explicit, however, violence by non-Hindu residents leaves the Hindu residents no option but to leave the area, thereby, turning the area into an exclusive ghetto of non-Hindu residents. In such cases, there are instances violence against the Hindu residents explicitly. For example, in the Hauz Qazi case of 2019, the Muslim residents claimed that mob violence against the Hindu residents had been triggered by a parking dispute. However, the violence did turn religious with a temple being desecrated and was directed specifically against the Hindu residents. The Hindu residents of the area were clear that the violence was religiously motivated and one of the motives was to affect an exodus of the Hindu residents. In such cases, even though the perpetrators have not explicitly expressed the aim of affecting the exodus, the given circumstances and violence and precedent point to the intention of exodus and therefore would be categorized under this sub-category. Such crimes are religiously motivated and therefore are hate crimes. The second sub-category selected under the same prime category 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. Here, the Hindu journalist herself testified that she was being tortured and harassed for her Hindu identity. She also confirmed that Muslims in the area were harassing Hindus, forcing them to sell their homes and businesses or leave the area. This sort of harassment creates an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, ultimately aiming to drive out the Hindu community and alter the demographic landscape. Such actions reflect a disturbing trend of religious intolerance and hostility, undermining the rights of Hindus to live freely and safely in their own communities. Given that the underlying motivation for these actions stems from contempt for the Hindu religion, this incident has been categorized in the tracker accordingly.