Hindu journalists brutally attacked by Muslim mob for reporting on construction of 'Babri Masjid' at Murshidabad, West Bengal

Case ID : 277d04a | Location : Murshidabad, West Bengal, India | Date of Incident : Mon, 29 December, 2025

Case ID : 277d04a

Murshidabad, West Bengal, India

29 December, 2025

Hindu journalists brutally attacked by Muslim mob for reporting on construction of 'Babri Masjid' at Murshidabad, West Bengal

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In Murshidabad, West Bengal, two Hindu journalists, Global TV News founder Abhishek Shandilya and his colleague Aditya Mishra, suffered an attack by a Muslim mob who supported ex-Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Humayun Kabir. The victims were attacked for reporting on the construction of the Babri Masjid replica in Murshidabad. According to Global TV News, a mob of Muslim supporters of Humayun Kabir attacked Shandilya and his colleague and held them hostage on the site of the so-called Babri Masjid. The mob tried to tie up Abhishek Shandilya with plastic pipes and lynch him. The attackers snatched away their equipment worth ₹4 lakh, including a microphone and a camera. Some videos of the attack went viral on social media. The Murshidabad police rescued Abhishek Shandilya and Aditya Mishra. However, the police, who seemed helpless against the mob, asked the journalists to leave the area immediately to avoid the mob following them. The journalist stated that the construction work of the Babri Masjid replica occurred secretly at the site. He stated that he had 40-minute footage of the construction site on his camera, which the mob looted. Shandilya stated that the mob attacked him and his colleague in a well-planned manner. Shandilya added that the police recovered the microphone from the mob but did not hand it over to him. The duo left the place without their equipment to save their lives. Following this, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) West Bengal lashed out at the Mamata Banerjee government in the state for the attack on the journalists. The party accused the West Bengal police of remaining a mute spectator during the attack. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), West Bengal, shared a clip of the attack, stating, “Reporter Abhishek Shandilya and his cameraman suffered an attack by supporters of Humayun Kabir, who looted equipment worth ₹4 lakh in Murshidabad. The police remained mute spectators and did not give them protection. This is the reality of law and order in Murshidabad, which has 70% Muslim population. Under Home Minister Mamata, such antisocial elements took over West Bengal!” This incident occurred against the backdrop of TMC Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Humayun Kabir disclosing his intentions to build a replica of Babri Masjid in Beldanga in the Murshidabad district. After this, the TMC suspended him in an attempt to distance itself from his plans. Humayun threatened bloodshed if anyone tried to thwart his nefarious plans, and gloated over the fact that the Muslim population increased drastically in the state and would become 40% by the time the construction of the mosque was completed. He laid the foundation stone of the Babri Masjid replica on 6th December 2025, coinciding with the anniversary of the demolition of the disputed structure, also known as Babri Masjid at Ayodhya. Notably, the structure called Babri Masjid was an illegal mosque built by the Islamic invader Babur, ruler of the Mughal Empire, who demolished the ancient temple of Lord Ram in Ayodhya and erected a mosque over it, naming it Babri Masjid. After decades of legal, social, and cultural battles, Hindus as a collective demolished the Babri Masjid and rebuilt the Ram temple following victory in a legal case before the Supreme Court of India, where the Ram Janmabhoomi temple now stands. Following this, Humayun Kabir declared that he would build the Babri Masjid again in Murshidabad, showcasing his nefarious intent behind the act.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The primary category selected in this case is- Attack not resulting in death. The subcategory 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. This case stood as a clear instance of a religiously motivated hate crime against two Hindu journalists for their religious identity and for reporting the construction of a Babri Masjid replica in Murshidabad, West Bengal. The construction is rooted entirely in anti-Hindu animosity, weaponising the historical dispute of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, which Islamic invader Babur from the Mughal Empire destroyed to build the Babri Masjid over the sacred birthplace of Lord Ram. The demolition of that illegal structure, Babri Masjid, in 1992 marked the culmination of centuries of Hindu struggle, backed by historical, archaeological, and documentary evidence of the pre-existing temple. The Supreme Court of India in 2019 affirmed the Hindu claim, recognised the land as Ram Janmabhoomi, and granted it for the Ram Mandir. Humayun Kabir's resurrection of the Babri Masjid in Murshidabad showcased his deep-seated religious animosity towards the Hindu community. The gravity of this crime intensified as it occurred in Murshidabad, a district with a long history of communal tensions and violence against Hindus, including recent large-scale attacks by Muslim mobs on Hindu homes, shops, and temples under the pretext of protesting the Waqf law. In this sensitive region, Abhishek Shandilya and Aditya Mishra faced brutal assault, hostage-taking, and equipment looting simply for documenting the Babri Masjid replica. Even without explicit statements from perpetrators naming the victim's Hindu identity as the reason for the attack, their role as Humayun Kabir's supporters—who earlier threatened bloodshed and beheading against Hindus—revealed clear anti-Hindu hostility, especially given the cultural context targeting Hindus over the Babri Masjid and Ram Janmabhoomi dispute. This religious hostility, combined with the Ram Janmabhoomi history, demonstrated profound animosity, proving the attack stemmed directly from the journalists' Hindu faith and their reporting on the Babri site. Abhishek and Aditya endured planned violence solely for defending Hindu sanctity and documenting religious hate against Hindus that led to the construction of the Babri Masjid replica in Murshidabad, marking a stark religiously motivated hate crime against Hindu voices. Since this case met the parameters of a religiously motivated hate crime, it was added to the Hinduphobia Tracker's hate crime database. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records the dates of incidents based on when the crime occurs rather than when the media reports it. However, in this particular case, media reports did not state the exact date when the attack on the Hindu journalists occurred. Henceforth, for the purpose of documenting this crime, the date when the media report was first published, 30th December 2025, is selected as the indicative date of the incident.