Tribal community's religious festival stopped by members of the Muslim community

Case Summary
Every year, in Ranchi's old city area, the tribal community conducts its traditional Dumbu Buru Jatra. Like every year, members of the Muslim community disrupted the festival that the Adivasis were celebrating in the area. This led to an outrage among the Hindu population. Upon hearing about the effort to obstruct the Jatra, hundreds of tribal people from nearby areas gathered at the Jatra site. The Hindus said that this location had long been a testament to their religious, cultural, and traditional practices and has hosted hundreds of Khodaha Jatras over the years. They expressed their anger at the interference by the Muslims, which escalated tensions between the two groups. To control the situation, the police promptly arrived at the scene, engaging in dialogue with both communities and urging them to maintain peace. The police attempted to mediate and advised conducting the Jatra peacefully.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the Hinduphobia tracker under two prime categories. The first is- Attack on Hindu religious representations, under which, the sub-category selected is- Defiling religious customs. Sanatan Dharma is not a religion of one book, which is to say that while it has religious scriptures that form the central tenets of the faith, there are several traditions followed through thousands of years, mostly passed from generation to generation orally. There are several such customs and traditions that are followed by various Hindus and Hindu sects. Defiling of these traditions and customs is a breach of an individual or group’s religious practices. Such practices can range from dietary restrictions like not eating non-vegetarian food for a certain period of the year, not eating non-vegetarian food at all, not eating beef since the cow is considered holy in Hinduism, the sanctity of religious customs followed in the house (like many ISCKON devotees), etc. Any malicious action leading to the breach of such traditions or defilement of these traditions owing to animosity towards the faith or for the sake of activism stems not only from the lack of faith in the religion itself but also from disregard for the faith of the devotees who follow the customs/traditions and implicit bias against the faith, the tradition itself. Since these specific traditions are central to the faith of the devotees of that specific sect of Hindus, any non-compliance with these traditional rules would be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. The second prime category under which the case has been placed is- Attack not resulting in death. Under this, the first 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 sub-category chosen here 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. The disruption of the Dumbu Buru Jatra, a deeply significant cultural and religious event for the tribal Hindu community, by members of the Muslim community reflects targeted hostility toward their traditions and faith. Such interference goes beyond a mere conflict and directly challenges the Adivasis' religious identity and their right to practice their customs. The Jatra, being a long-standing expression of their cultural and spiritual heritage, holds immense significance for the Hindu tribal community. By attempting to obstruct this event, the perpetrators not only attacked the devotees physically and emotionally but also sought to defile and undermine their sacred rituals. This act demonstrates a clear disregard for the religious customs of the Hindu Adivasis and stems from animosity towards their beliefs and practices, thereby fulfilling the criteria of a hate crime.

Case Status
Unknown

Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown