Hindu activists brutally attacked by Muslim mob shouting “teach Hindus a lesson”

Case ID : 8da184f | Location : Pune, Maharashtra, India | Date of Incident : Fri, 31 October, 2025

Case ID : 8da184f

Pune, Maharashtra, India

31 October, 2025

Hindu activists brutally attacked by Muslim mob shouting “teach Hindus a lesson”

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for supporting/being part of perceived Hindu party/org or working for Hindu community

Communal clash/attack

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In the Kothrud area of Pune, Hindu activists named Sameer Chavan and Sunny Chavan were violently attacked by a Muslim mob led by a Muslim man named Rafiq Sheikh, while raising communal slogans. According to reports, on 1 November 2025, in the Megacity locality near Paud Phata, Hindutva activists Sameer Chavan and Sunny Chavan were engaged in social work and working for the Hindu community. During this time, a Muslim mob of around thirty to forty Islamist men led by Rafiq Sheikh, the General Secretary of the BJP Minority Morcha in Maharashtra, attacked both victims. The mob, armed with rods, sticks, and stones, and led by Rafiq Sheikh, wielding a pistol, attacked the Hindu activists while shouting threats and raising slogans such as “teach Hindus a lesson.” When local women rushed to the spot to help the injured men, they too were beaten by the attackers. The mob vandalised vehicles, including four two-wheelers and two four-wheelers, spreading panic throughout the neighbourhood. Residents of the area stated the attack was pre-planned to create fear among the Hindu community in the neighbourhood. Following the violence, locals gathered on the streets demanding police action and justice for the victims. Police registered an FIR and began an investigation into the incident. However, despite the seriousness of the offence, no arrests were made.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case is being added to the tracker under the primary category- Attack not resulting in death. Within it, the sub-category selected is - Attacked for supporting/being part of perceived Hindu party/org or working for Hindu community. In several cases, Hindus are attacked specifically or tangentially for their association with parties or organisations perceived to be pro-Hindu and/or for working in favour of the Hindu community. One of the classic cases was the attack against a Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha (BJYM) worker Praveen Nettaru. Nettaru was attacked and hacked to death for his association with Hindu organizations and his work for the Hindu community. He was murdered by PFI, a terror organization which aimed to commit a genocide of Hindus, target Hindu leaders specifically and turn India into an Islamic Nation. In such cases, it is possible that the immediate trigger for the violence is non-religious – either according to the perpetrator or the police. However, there are surrounding circumstances from which the conclusion can be reached that the victim was attacked for his association with a Hindu organization. In a similar case, Rinku Sharma was attacked by radicals. He was a member of Bajrang Dal and regularly worked for the Hindu community. While the police cited a different non-religious trigger for the attack, it is true that he was associated to a Hindu organization and the family of Rinku Sharma specifically attributed his gruesome murder to him working for Bajrang Dal and raising Jai Shree Ram slogans. Such cases are intrinsically driven by religious hate and would therefore be documented as a hate crime under this category. The second subcategory selected here is- Communal Clash/Attack. Communal clash is a form of collective violence that involves clashes between groups belonging to different religious identities. For a communal clash between Hindus and non-Hindus to qualify as a religiously motivated hate crime, the trigger of the violence itself would have to be anti-Hindu in essence. For example, if there is a Hindu religious procession that comes under attack from a non-Hindu mob and after the initial attack, Hindus retaliate in self-defence, leading to a communal clash between the two religious communities. While at a later stage, both communities are involved in the clash/violence, the initial trigger of the violence was by the non-Hindu mob against the Hindus and therefore, it could safely be termed as an anti-Hindu violence. Further, the trigger would also have to be religiously motivated. In the cited example, the attack by the non-Hindu mob was against religious processions and therefore, can be concluded to be religiously motivated. In some cases, the trigger may be non-religious, however, it develops into religious violence against Hindus at a later stage. In such cases too, the foundational animosity towards Hindus becomes the motivating factor of the crime and therefore, it would be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus under this category. The other sub-category selected under this 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. This incident clearly qualifies as a hate crime due to its explicitly communal nature and the targeted violence against Hindu activists by the Muslim mob. What began as routine social work by Hindutva activists in the Kothrud area of Pune escalated into a premeditated and violent assault carried out by an Islamist mob led by Rafiq Sheikh. The Muslim mob, armed with rods, sticks, and stones, attacked Hindu activists Sameer Chavan and Sunny Chavan while shouting threats and raising communal slogans such as “teach Hindus a lesson.” This slogan alone establishes the religious motive behind the attack and demonstrates that the victims were assaulted solely because of their Hindu identity. The deliberate and organised nature of the assault, in which armed men targeted known Hindu activists and even assaulted local Hindu women who attempted to help, reflects deep-seated hostility against the Hindu community. This was not an impulsive altercation but a calculated act of violence designed to instil fear among Hindus in the area. The use of threatening language and the ensuing violence reveals a mindset rooted in religious animosity and supremacy, where violence is used as a tool to assert dominance and intimidate members of another faith. This disproportionate reaction is rooted in a mindset of Islamic supremacy, wherein Muslims view Hindus as socially and religiously inferior. This supremacist attitude fosters disdain and aggression, especially when a Hindu does not submit or “yield” in front of Muslims. The disproportionate response underscores the intent to terrorise rather than to resolve any personal or local dispute. The use of the slogan “teach Hindus a lesson” exposes the ideological motive behind the violence. It was not a confrontation between individuals but an attack directed at Hindus as a community. By invoking a communal identity during the assault, the perpetrators framed the victims not as individuals but as Hindus, who need to be purged. This incident is therefore emblematic of a pattern of targeted violence where the Hindu identity of the victims serves as the primary cause of attack. The deliberate chanting of “teach Hindus a lesson,” the scale of mobilisation, and the communal coordination behind the assault collectively prove that this was a hate-motivated crime driven by religious hostility, aimed at subjugating and terrorising the Hindu community. Several past incidents underscore this grim reality. The 2019 Hauz Qazi violence is a glaring example. A simple parking dispute escalated into a full-scale communal attack against Hindus in the heart of Delhi. Hindu residents—including women and children—and their sacred Durga Mandir were targeted mercilessly by Muslims. Hindu idols were destroyed, the temple desecrated, and the community subjected to physical assault. The disappearance of a 17-year-old Hindu boy during the violence highlighted the grave dangers Hindus endure, as he was beaten for his faith and forced to flee for his life. This incident exposed how routine conflicts are exploited to unleash communal violence against Hindus, leaving the community traumatised and demanding justice. Similarly, the Hinduphobia Tracker has previously documented numerous instances where non-religious triggers sparked communal violence against Hindus by Muslims. For example, on 30th May 2025, in Dewran Garhiya village, Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh, a minor verbal altercation between two Hindu men and a Muslim man escalated into a violent assault by a large Muslim mob, inflaming communal tensions. In another incident on 7th July 2025 in Bhavna Nagar, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, a Hindu family was brutally attacked by a Muslim mob of nearly 80 people following a simple dispute over garbage disposal. Victims suffered severe injuries from sharp weapons. Similarly, on 22nd June 2025 in Ghongade Basti, Solapur, Maharashtra, a minor road dispute led to a targeted communal assault on Hindus by a large Muslim mob, sparking widespread clashes. Given that this particular incident meets the multiple parameters of a religiously motivated hate crime, and considering the previous instances of such communal attacks, this case has been added to the hate crime database.