West Bengal Police force Hindu to remove Lord Ram idol from their private property

Case ID : 242df01 | Location : West Bengal, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 6 April, 2023

Case ID : 242df01

West Bengal, India

6 April, 2023

West Bengal Police force Hindu to remove Lord Ram idol from their private property

Restriction/ban on Hindu practices

Administration restricting religious practice

Case Summary

An undated video of a police official asking a group of Hindus to remove a publicly visible idol of Lord Ram in West Bengal went viral on social media. The clip was originally shared by the official X handle of West Bengal BJP. The cop dressed in plain clothes, could be heard saying, “I understand that this is your private property. The main issue is that it (the idol) is visible from the road.” The Hindus argued that it was their property and that there was nothing outrageous if the murti was visible from the road. This led to a heated argument between the Hindu devotees and the police official. The incident occurred in Rathtala village under Nodakhali Police Station.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

In several cases, it is seen that the administration/state disallows a religious practice owing to prejudicial orders and concerns, targeted specifically against the Hindu community. Such restriction/prohibition would be considered documented as a hate crime because the orders are often a result of pressure by groups that harbour animosity towards Hinduism and Hindus. Often, the restriction by the authorities is driven by bias, hostility, or prejudice against the specific community being stopped from holding a religious practice, by pressure groups that harbour animosity towards Hindus, intrinsic to their faith. Since practices are intrinsic to the faith of the Hindus, such prejudicial restriction is considered a curtailing of the fundamental rights of the Hindu community. In several cases, for example, the authorities ban a Hindu religious practice due to pressure from groups opposed to the religion. In other instances the prohibition is selectively enforced against one religious group (Hindus) while others are allowed to proceed. There are still other cases where the authorities preemptively restrict a religious practice by Hindus because those who hold animosity towards Hindus may get “provoked” leading to them being violent, thereby assuaging the sentiments of those who hold animosity towards Hindus by curtailing the religious rights of Hindus. Such acts and orders are prejudiced, indicating discriminatory motives owing to the capitulation to groups that harbour animosity towards Hindus and therefore, would be categorized as a religiously motivated hate crime since the original pressure leading to the order itself is a result of hatred/bias/prejudice/religious hate against Hindus. In this case, the state police working at the behest of the TMC government in West Bengal discouraged a Hindu devotee from keeping an idol of Lord Ram, one of the most revered Hindu gods, on his own private property. Here, it is important to mention that the idol was placed by the devotee within the premises of his personal property. It was in no way causing any sort of inconvenience to the general public. Demanding the removal of a Lord Ram idol from private property is indeed an act of intolerance and disrespect shown towards the Hindu faith. Every individual has the right to practice his/her religious faith and restricting someone from doing that is clearly considered a prejudicial order denying the Hindu community their fundamental rights. Such arbitrary actions taken against Hindus are prejudicial to their rights and stem from animosity and prejudice against the Hindu faith and beliefs, which is why this case is being categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime.