Hindu women forced to wear Hijab and remove Kumkum by event management companies during events by Muslim community
Tumkur, Karnataka, India 
16 March, 2023
Case Summary
A few event management companies in Tumkur forced Hindu women to wear hijab at functions hosted by the Muslim community. The management firms also forced the women to remove the kumkum on their forehead, which holds importance in Hinduism. The incident came to the fore after one of the event management companies posted the image of Hindu women wearing a Hijab online. The same was initially reported by a local media channel named Samvad Kannada. The video of the incident, however, went viral over social media after which a few Hindu activists raised the issue and protested against the local representatives and such event management companies.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
As per details, this case has been placed under the sub-category- 'Restriction on expression of Hindu identity', under the prime category- 'Restriction/ban on Hindu practices' of the hate tracker. An example of the state-affected prejudicial and targeted orders against the Hindu community would be a government denying the right of a Hindu or a group of Hindus to hold a religious procession owing to the animosity of non-Hindu groups. Denial of the religious right of the Hindus to assuage the non-Hindu group which harbours animosity to a point where it could lead to violence against Hindus is not only a failure of law and order but is a prejudicial order against Hindus, denying them their fundamental rights to express their religious identity. An example of a hate crime against Hindus by a non-Hindu would be a non-Hindu institution forcing its Hindu employees to abandon religious symbols that a Hindu would wear as an expression of faith owing to inherent prejudice against the faith professed by the victim or a non-Hindu group of people restricting a Hindu group from constructing a place of worship simply because the demography of the area in which the temple is being built is dominated by non-Hindus. Such actions are driven by religious animosity and/or prejudice against Hindus and their faith and would therefore be categorized as a hate crime. It is evident from the details of the case that the event management companies forced Hindu women to conform to Islamic rituals and principles. In fact, they also forced the Hindu women to remove the kumkum they had applied on their foreheads. In Hindu tradition, applying kumkum or sindoor on the forehead, particularly for women, is a deeply significant practice. It symbolizes devotion and marital status and is considered auspicious. Forcing someone to remove a religious symbol infringes on their right to freely practice their religion. Such actions are often viewed as acts of intimidation, aiming to suppress or challenge the religious identity of the individual. Since the central motivation, in this case, is religion, this case has been added as a hate crime.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
