Ram Navami Shobha Yatra attacked by Muslim mob, Hindu child attacked with sword in temple
Kosi Zone, Nepal 
16 April, 2024
Case Summary
After the Pran Pratishtha of Lord Ram's in Ayodhya, Hindus worldwide celebrated Ram Navami on April 17, 2024, with great enthusiasm. However, reports emerged of attacks on Shobha Yatras (processions) in various parts of India and beyond. In the Viratnagar area of Morang district, Nepal, violence erupted during a Ram Navami procession organised by Hindu youth. Mazhar Alam, a local figure known for controversies against Hindus, reportedly obstructed the procession along with a group of Muslims, leading to a confrontation. The situation escalated into stone-pelting, with the Muslim group wielding sticks and swords. The attackers chanted Allahu Akbar slogans as they vandalised vehicles and even entered a nearby temple, where a child was injured by a sword blow to the head, resulting in a severe injury. The police reportedly supported Mazhar Alam, and the Hindu organisers of the procession were initially arrested but later released following protests from the Hindu community. However, no arrests were made from the Muslim side, despite allegations against individuals like Mazhar, Aslam Saifi, and Shaheed Hussain. Mazhar Alam, the main accused, is involved in illegal activities, including holding citizenship in two countries, Nepal and India. Despite his involvement in the attack, he is now reportedly facilitating peace talks between the two parties with the Nepalese administration's involvement.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This particular case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under two distinct categories of the tracker because of the various distinct components that demonstrate the perpetrator's bias against the Hindu faith. Because of the case's specifics, the first prime category chosen for this case is 'Attack on Hindu religious representations' and to narrow down the search further we have chosen the sub-category 'Abrahamic religion chanting outside Hindu place of worship' under this core category. In Hinduism, a temple is the abode of the Deity. The Deity in the Temple is consecrated, thereby, making it a real, breathing entity. Hindus believe that not just the Deity but the temple premises itself are sacred to Hindus since Hindus hold the faith that the entire Temple space is an amalgamation of the divine energy of the deity. Given the central significance of Temples in Hindu Dharma, any aggressive Abrahamic chanting outside Temples negates the divinity of the temple space because the chanting itself negates the existence of any other God other than the God of the Abrahamic faith. Such chanting is specifically done to negate the faith of Hindus, establish religious supremacy, intimidate the devotees and mock the faith. Besides temples, such Abrahamic chanting outside any Hindu place of worship or religious structure has the same effect. Since such acts are rooted in an inherent religious supremacist mentality driven by religious animosity, such crimes would be considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. The second sub-category selected under the above-mentioned category is- Attack on Temples. In Hinduism, a temple is the abode of the Deity. The Deity in the Temple is consecrated, thereby, making it a real, breathing entity. Hindus believe that not just the Deity but the temple premises itself are sacred to Hindus since Hindus hold the faith that the entire Temple space is an amalgamation of the divine energy of the deity. Given the central significance of Temples in Hindu Dharma, any attack against a Hindu Temple or its peripheral premises is an attack on the faith itself and is born out of animosity towards the faith, of which, the Temple is a central tenet. Any manner of attack against a Temple and/or its premises would therefore be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. The second core category relevant in this case 'Attack not resulting in death', under which, the first sub-category selected is- Attack on religious procession. The outward celebration and display of religious symbols in an intrinsic part of Hinduism. Religious processions on various festivals are age-old traditions and a way to manifest faith and form a part of the religious practices of Hindus. On several occasions, such religious processions come under attack by non-Hindu mobs, in a manifestation of their animosity towards Hinduism and their practices. The reasons cited for such violent attacks are many and range from crossing a non-Hindu resident-dominated area to playing loud music, crossing from an area where there is a religious structure of another faith etc. The violent attacks are triggered by the outward display of religiosity by Hindus. The attacks are mainly a manifestation of religious supremacist doctrine which believes that idolatry, essentially the Hindu faith, is one that deserves to be annihilated since the very tenets of Hinduism, its practices and traditions are considered a sin in those doctrines. Since these attacks emanate from intrinsic and doctrinal animosity towards Hindus and Hinduism, it is considered a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. The second sub-category selected is- Attack against Hindu devotees. Hindu devotees are a few of the easiest targets of religiously motivated hate crimes because during the festival/procession/puja etc, for non-Hindus it is easy to profile their victims on the basis of religion. Hindu devotees come under attack on several occasions by individual non-Hindus or mobs of non-Hindus owing to their animosity against Hinduism, its symbols and tradition/practices. There are several instances of Hindu devotees being attacked while they worship in temples or temporary religious structures, during religious processions, doing bhajan/kirtan/puja in their own homes, in the residential society etc. These attacks are perpetrated by non-Hindus primarily because of their animosity towards Hindus and their faith. In some cases, the trigger for the violence may be non-religious, however, there are two elements that make these hate crimes. First, the Hindus who come under attack are attacked violently while indulging in religious activity. Whether they are in a place of worship or not is immaterial to the crime. When individuals are attacked while indulging in religious practices, the attack in itself is a hindrance to their freedom to practice religion and therefore constitutes a hate crime. Secondly, religious supremacist doctrines and ideologies deem religious practices of Hindus to be offensive ab initio since they are considered “sinful” by these ideologies, worthy to be annihilated by force or coercion. Driven by these religious supremacist ideologies and doctrines, the attacks against Hindu devotees stem from intrinsic animosity towards Hinduism. In some cases, the trigger for the violence may be non-religious, however, it develops into a religiously motivated crime during the course of the violence. Since these attacks stem from animosity towards Hindus and Hinduism, they are considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. In this case, the Hindu men were brutally attacked by Islamists for celebrating Ram Navami, a significant Hindu festival that marks the birth of Lord Rama. It is important to note here that there was no sort of provocation from the Hindu side, in fact, the Muslim mob chanted "Allahu Akbar" slogans as they vandalised vehicles and even entered a nearby temple, where they attacked and injured a Hindu child. The chanting was intended to intimidate, harass, or provoke the Hindu worshippers. Furthermore, it was done primarily to target Hindus, making it a kind of religious harassment worthy of being listed in the tracker.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 1
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
