Muslim youth sets cars on fire, locals say cars parked in houses with Saffron flags targeted
Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India 
21 February, 2024
Case Summary
On February 22nd, Zubair from Panipat, Haryana, set fire to 7 vehicles in Agra's Murli Vihar Colony within 27 minutes, late at night. The intoxicated accused was apprehended by the Agra police after the arson. He ignited the parked vehicles using a lighter, as confirmed by multiple CCTV footages collected by the police. Locals asserted that only vehicles parked outside houses with Lord Ram flags were targeted, indicating a potential religious motive. Kiosks with saffron flags were also attacked, while those without flags were spared. Eventually, Zubair was apprehended by the gathered residents.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of 'Attack not resulting in death' and within this, the 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. In this case, the locals testified that only those cars which were parked in houses with Saffron flags were targeted. Because of their spiritual, cultural, and historical importance in Hinduism, saffron flags are powerful emblems of Hindu identity. It is seen as an insult to the Hindu faith to desecrate such flags or any other Hindu religious symbol, and anyone who engages in such criminal activity would only do so out of hatred for Hinduism. Here, the saffron flags were not desecrated per se, however, cars parked under houses where saffron flags were hoisted were targeted. This clearly indicates that the perpetrator intended to single out and target Hindu families only, which is why the perpetrator exclusively targeted the cars which belonged to households where saffron flags were hoisted. Given that the fundamental motivation behind these actions is contempt for the Hindu religion, this instance has been added to the tracker under the following category.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
