Hindu YouTuber assaulted, Muslim men snatched picture of Lord Ram, force him to chant “Pakistan Zindabad”
Mysore, Karnataka, India 
18 April, 2024
Case Summary
A YouTuber named Rohit Kumar was brutally assaulted in Mysuru, Karnataka, for singing a song praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The incident occurred near a government guest house where Rohit was sharing his song link with a fellow youth. However, some Muslim individuals objected to the song's content and attacked Rohit, subjecting him to humiliating actions. He was forced to raise "Pakistan Zindabad" slogans and was assaulted, with his hands burned with cigarettes and beer poured on his head. They also snatched the picture of Lord Ram from his hand and molested him. The Nazarbad Police intervened and rescued Rohit, taking him for medical treatment. Rohit recounted the ordeal, stating that he was sharing his YouTube channel link when he was attacked. Mysuru Police Commissioner Ramesh stated that they are investigating the matter and will verify CCTV footage from the government guest house.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
According to the case details, 'Attacked for Hindu identity' and 'Attacked for supporting/being part of perceived Hindu party/org or working for Hindu community' are the two sub-categories under the core category 'Attack not resulting in death' under which this case has been listed. The first relevant sub-category 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 second sub-category applicable here is: Attacked for supporting/being part of perceived Hindu party/org or working for Hindu community. In several cases, Hindus are attacked specifically or tangentially for their association with parties or organisations perceived to be pro-Hindu and/or for working in favour of the Hindu community. One of the classic cases was the attack against a Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha (BJYM) worker Praveen Nettaru. Nettaru was attacked and hacked to death for his association with Hindu organizations and his work for the Hindu community. He was murdered by PFI, a terror organization which aimed to commit a genocide of Hindus, target Hindu leaders specifically and turn India into an Islamic Nation. In such cases, it is possible that the immediate trigger for the violence is non-religious – either according to the perpetrator or the police. However, there are surrounding circumstances from which the conclusion can be reached that the victim was attacked for his association with a Hindu organization. In a similar case, Rinku Sharma was attacked by radicals. He was a member of Bajrang Dal and regularly worked for the Hindu community. While the police cited a different non-religious trigger for the attack, it is true that he was associated to a Hindu organization and the family of Rinku Sharma specifically attributed his gruesome murder to him working for Bajrang Dal and raising Jai Shree Ram slogans. Such cases are intrinsically driven by religious hate and would therefore be documented as a hate crime under this category. In this particular case, Islamists attacked a Hindu youth, firstly because he was praising PM Modi. While it can be said that since the attack was because the youth was supporting a particular politician, the crime should not be documented in the Hindu hate tracker. However, the truth remains that the attack on the Hindu youth was in itself reflective of the hostility Islamists nurture against Hindus. The religious motive of the crime became more apparent when the Muslim perpetrators snatched the picture of Lord Ram from his hand and molested him. Since the trigger of the violence against the Hindu victim was him singing and sharing a song in support of PM Modi, it can be said that the crime was 'political' in nature and not religious. However, there are multiple threads that prove that the underlying motive of the crime was religious hostility and animosity. Firstly, images of Lord Ram were snatched from the victim and desecrated. That in and of itself proves the religious motivations of the crime. Further, the victim was made to chant 'Pakistan Zindabad'. Making the victim raise slogans such as Pakistan Zindabad does not only show pro-Pakistan sentiments by the perpetrators, but also, anti-Hindu sentiments. It is pertinent to note that Muslim extremists harbour specific animosity towards Hindus and their faith and also view India as a Hindu collectivity. The very basis of the partition of India was that the Muslims believed that Islam was a nation unto itself, which could not survive with a Hindu collectivity like India. Further, Muslims often believe in transnational unity - or the Ummah - which is a belief that all Muslims across the world are a nation unto themselves and therefore, loyalty as far as the nation-state is concerned lies with the Muslim collectivity and not with a Hindu collectivity like India. This would also mean that the slogan Pakistan Zindabad is about hailing a Muslim collectivity and an expression of transnational loyalty and anti-Hindu sentiments. For that reason, any slogan which expresses transnational loyalty, faith in the Ummah is automatically a slogan against Hindus and the Hindu collectivity.
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 0
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
