Ram Temple desecrated, stones pelted, priest assaulted; Muslim accused claims 'Temple belongs to Muslims'; police call him 'mentally ill'

Case ID : 43c14d7 | Location : Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 22 September, 2024

Case ID : 43c14d7

Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India

22 September, 2024

Ram Temple desecrated, stones pelted, priest assaulted; Muslim accused claims 'Temple belongs to Muslims'; police call him 'mentally ill'

Attack on Hindu religious representations

Attack on Temples

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, a Muslim youth named Sher Khan barged into the Ram Mandir near Retia Bazaar and threatened to attack the temple. He assaulted the temple’s Mahant, Arun Chaudhary, and threw stones at the temple. Sher Khan also claimed the temple land belonged to Muslims and warned the Mahant not to open the temple again. Mahant Arun Chaudhary locked himself inside the temple while the attacker tried to break in. Videos of the incident show Sher Khan using abusive language and kicking the gate in a fit of rage. After the attack, the Mahant informed the police. Hindu rights groups and local BJP leaders gathered in protest at the Raya Police Station, accusing the police of mishandling the situation when an officer allegedly insulted the Mahant during his emergency call. SP Rural Triguna Visen and Area Officer Bhushan Verma arrived at the scene to calm tensions, promising to arrest Sher Khan and investigate the police officer’s behaviour. Sher Khan was arrested, with police claiming he was mentally unstable, though Mahant Chaudhary rejected this claim, arguing the accused had only targeted Hindus.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the hate tracker under two prime categories as it encompasses multiple aspects of a religiously motivated hate crime. The first prime category under which this case has been placed is- Attack not resulting in death and under 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. The second category under which this case has been placed is- Attack on Hindu religious symbols. Within this, the sub-category chosen 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. This incident in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, where Sher Khan violently attacked the Ram Mandir and its Mahant, Arun Chaudhary, encompasses multiple aspects of a religiously motivated hate crime. Firstly, by targeting a Hindu religious leader in a temple, Sher Khan aimed to intimidate not only the individual but also the wider Hindu community, signalling intolerance and hostility toward their religious identity. Secondly, the attack on the temple itself—throwing stones, attempting to break in, and falsely claiming the land belonged to Muslims—highlights a deliberate desecration of a sacred Hindu space. Temples hold profound religious significance in Hinduism, and this assault on a place of worship exemplifies an attempt to degrade and violate a central aspect of the Hindu faith. Together, these actions underscore the perpetrator's intolerance and hatred towards Hinduism. Given that the fundamental motivation behind these actions is contempt for the Hindu religion, this case amounts to a clear instance of religiously motivated offence. The police in this case tried to downplay the communal nature of the crime by claiming that the accused was mentally unstable. This claim represents a common trope used to deflect attention from the religious motivations behind hate crimes against Hindu places of worship, portraying the act as stemming from mental illness rather than religious animosity. Authorities often downplay such communal crimes and often attribute the offence to the accused's mental health. This narrative has appeared repeatedly in cases targeting Hindus and their religious symbols, obscuring the true intent of religious hatred. Many times, police minimise incidents of low-level communal crime to protect their jurisdiction from scrutiny. They frequently cite the accused's mental instability as the cause, aiming to prevent any flare-up in the area following the initial offence. However, this explanation rang hollow in this instance. If the accused was truly mentally unstable, why did he target only a Hindu temple for desecration and not a mosque or other non-Hindu places of worship? This selective targeting and desecration of a Hindu temple exposed deep-seated hatred for Hinduism and its sacred spaces, confirming the religiously motivated nature of the offence. Therefore, this case is being added to the tracker.