Journalist attacked in Haldwani violence says rioters were attacking after asking names and sparing the Muslims

Case ID : 4137ac2 | Location : Haldwani, Uttarakhand, India | Date of Incident : Wed, 7 February, 2024

Case ID : 4137ac2

Haldwani, Uttarakhand, India

7 February, 2024

Journalist attacked in Haldwani violence says rioters were attacking after asking names and sparing the Muslims

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In February 2024, Islamists unleashed mayhem in Haldwani city in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand. When the administration arrived in Banbhoolpura, Haldwani, to remove illegal encroachments, a violent Islamist mob attacked, setting fire to the police station and petrol pumps. They attempted to burn police personnel alive and subjected people to beatings, stone-pelting, and firing. Female police officers were also attacked, with reports of their clothes being torn apart. A local journalist revealed that the Islamist mob targeted people based on their names, sparing those with Muslim names from violence. Pankaj Saxena, a journalist from 'HNN News', suffered injuries during the violence on February 8, 2024, with fractures in his hands and feet. He explained that the mob asked for names before attacking. He also said that the attackers were singling out Hindus while sparing the Muslims. Saxena and other journalists had gone to cover the administration's efforts to demolish the illegal madrasa-mosque. On Wednesday (28th February), the Uttarakhand police arrested Abdul Moeed, son of Haldwani violence mastermind Abdul Malik, from Delhi in connection with the case. Abdul Moeed is one of the key accused of the Banbhulpura violence in Haldwani. Abdul Malik, the mastermind of the incident, was arrested on 24th February.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

Thia case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Attack not resulting in death and within this, the sub-category under which the case has been placed 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 the Haldwani violence, the trigger of the attack was the police reaching to remove encroachments. The violence was initially directed solely at the police. It can be said that the initial trigger of the violence was not religiously motivated since it was an attack owing to the removal of encroachment - which need not necessarily point towards a religious motive for the crime. However, in details that emerged later, it became evident that Hindus were attacked merely for their religious identity. Going by the testimony of the journalist, who became a victim of the violence, the Islamists were asking for names before carrying out their attacks. Muslims were spared while Hindus were singled out for the assault. While the initial trigger of the violence can be argued to be non-religious in nature, it is evident that the violence later turned into specific targeting of Hindus by the Muslim mob. This sort of attack specifically targeting Hindus stems from a deep-seated animosity Islamists harbour towards the Hindu faith, which is why this case has been categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime.