Jagannath Puri temple desecrated by Muslim man after he forcefully enters temple, climbs atop a dome
Puri, Odisha, India 
23 March, 2023
Case Summary
The Odisha police arrested a 25-year-old youth named Rahman Khan for entering the Jagannath Puri temple, violating the ban on entry by non-Hindus. Khan, a resident of Murshidabad in West Bengal, forcibly entered the city’s famous Jagannath Puri temple when the security personnel caught him. The accused reportedly misbehaved and hurled abuses at the authorities when they tried to evict him. He was charged with violating the norms of the temple banning entry of non-Hindus, and also hurting religious sentiments.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
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. One of these oral traditions or written traditions is the rules of specific temples. Certain temples have rules which are traditional rules, dependent on the worship of the presiding deities. These rules and traditions have been followed for thousands of years whether they find scriptural mention or not. Such traditions are based on the nature and rules of worship of the presiding deity of that temple. Any non-compliance 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 presiding deity but also disregard for the faith of the devotees of that deity/temple and implicit bias against the faith, the tradition and the deity itself. Since these specific traditions are central to the faith of the devotees of that specific temple and presiding deity, any non-compliance with these traditional rules would be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. There are several Hindu temples that restrict entry to Hindus only and the Jagannath Puri temple in Odisha is one of them. This practice of restricting entry to non-Hindus dates back centuries and is deeply ingrained in the temple's customs and traditions. In fact, the restriction is followed so strictly that even a Gajapati King was not allowed to enter the temple since he was married to a Mughal soldier’s daughter. Despite knowing this fact if a non-Hindu tries to enter the temple, it is nothing but a deliberate attempt to provoke the Hindu worshippers. Furthermore, it is done primarily to target Hindus, making it a kind of religious harassment worthy of being listed in the hate tracker.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
