Muslim youths assault Hindu professor in Shibli College claiming "Bhagwa love trap"

Case ID : 388c080 | Location : Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 23 April, 2024

Case ID : 388c080

Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India

23 April, 2024

Muslim youths assault Hindu professor in Shibli College claiming "Bhagwa love trap"

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women

Attacked/killed for being associated or suspicion of being associated with Muslim woman

Case Summary

In Azamgarh district, Uttar Pradesh, a professor from Shibli PG College, Ashutosh Maheshwari, was assaulted and threatened by a Muslim mob on April 24, 2024. The incident occurred after a farewell party in the Sociology Department, where Maheshwari was followed by college students, leading to photos and videos being circulated on social media with the caption "Save the college from Bhagwa Love Trap and from becoming a gang." Maheshwari was attacked by four to five individuals, including Simnam from Dugdugwa and Osama from Bajbahadur, who also destroyed government documents for the department, and fled the scene. The college principal filed a complaint with the police, leading to the arrest of Osama, and the registration of a case under various sections of the IPC.

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, we have put this case under two prime categories: Attack not resulting in death and Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women. To narrow down the search further the sub-category 'Attacked for Hindu identity' has been selected under the first core category whereas 'Attacked/killed for being associated or suspicion of being associated with Muslim woman' has been selected under the second primary category. The first sub-category relevant in this case 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. The sub-category under the second prime category relevant here is, 'Attacked/killed for being associated or suspicion of being associated with Muslim woman.' There have been several cases documented of Hindu men/boys being attacked specifically by Muslim groups/mobs for merely being associated or suspicion of being associated or being seen with a Muslim woman in public. In most of such cases, the Hindu man is not in a relationship with the Muslim woman, however, the mob proceeds to threaten and/or assault the Hindu man for merely being associated with the Muslim woman in any capacity. The rise of such crimes stems from a particularly sinister campaign run by several Muslim ideologues and activists. The campaign claims that Hindu men are attempting to ‘lure’ Muslim women into relationships to ensure that Muslim women leave their faith and follow Hinduism. The propaganda has been spearheaded with the help of WhatsApp groups and the extensive use of social media, sans evidence of the same. In many cases, pamphlets were fabricated to lend credence to this campaign. The root of this campaign lies in the fact that several cases of sectarian crimes against Hindu women in relationships with Muslim men have been documented. In such cases, Hindu women have often been forced/pressured to convert to Islam, assaulted, threatened and even murdered owing specifically to their religious identity and their refusal to give up that religious identity to adopt Islam. To delegitimize the suffering of Hindu women when such sectarian crimes are committed against them, the theory of ‘Bhagwa Love Trap’ was floated by sections of the Muslim community. As this theory gained traction, Muslim mobs started targeting Hindu men who were seen with Muslim women. In several such cases, the Hindu man was assaulted merely for offering to drop a Muslim woman in his vehicle or being friends. The differentiating factor between such cases and legitimate cases of Hindu women being targeted while in a relationship with Muslim men is that there is no sectarian violence, and force/pressure to convert. The nature of sectarian violence against Hindu women is not about two adults in a consensual relationship, working together, studying together, or even marrying each other where religious considerations are declared. In this category of crimes, it is pertinent to remember that in none of the cases, there is an element of the Hindu man masking his identity or forced religious conversion. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. In this case, the Muslim mob assaulted a Hindu professor after some of their co-religionists accused him of 'bhagwa love trap,' a conspiracy theory peddled by Islamists who claim that Hindu men are trapping Muslim women. It is important to note that as per this case details, the Hindu professor was in no way associated with the Muslim girls. The girls were, in fact, just walking behind the professor after he left the farewell party. In order to trap the Hindu professor, some Muslim youths took photos and videos and circulated them on social media with the caption, “Save the college from becoming a gang and Bhagwa love trap.” This was enough for the fellow Muslims to unleash terror on the Hindu professor. The way the Muslims trapped the professor, without any fault of his, was clearly done due to the animosity the perpetrators harboured against his religion. Bhagwa love trap itself is a conspiracy theory specifically based on the Hindu religious identity of the victim. Such acts are rooted in animosity towards the victim’s religious identity and are therefore documented as a religiously motivated hate crime in this Hindu hate tracker.