Hindus attacked with rods and stones, casteist slurs hurled by Muslim mob following petty argument during circus event

Case ID : 90a06a4 | Location : Budaun, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 25 January, 2025
Case ID : 90a06a4
location Budaun, Uttar Pradesh, India
date 25 January, 2025
Hindus attacked with rods and stones, casteist slurs hurled by Muslim mob following petty argument during circus event
Attack not resulting in death
Attacked for Hindu identity
Hate speech against Hindus
Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith

Case Summary

Hindus were attacked and caste-based slurs were hurled at them by a Muslim mob following a bicycle circus event in Khitoura village, Ughaiti police station area of Badaun. The incident occurred around 9 PM when performers from the Nat community were entertaining the crowd. What started as a minor argument between individuals escalated into a full-blown fight, with stone pelting and physical assault. Muslims stormed into the house of a Hindu man named Pappu, vandalized his property, and attacked him. In the violence, two individuals, Akash (son of Naresh Pal) and Kashiram (son of Nem Singh), sustained serious injuries. According to the victim's complaint, 16 attackers, including Yunus (son of Mumtaz), Yunus (son of Idrisi), Salim, Jan Mohammad, Kausar, Abrar, Shamsher, Wasim, Sajjad, Nasir Ali, Asin, Aleem, Afzal, Adil, and Amin, used sticks, iron rods, and spears to assault them. The accused also hurled casteist slurs during the attack. Following the incident, a heavy police force was deployed in the village. The injured victims were taken to the hospital for treatment. CO Bilsi Umesh Chandra visited the site, assessed the situation, and directed the immediate arrest of those responsible. Police station in-charge Kamlesh Kumar Mishra confirmed that a complaint had been registered, and strict action would be taken after the investigation.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under two prime categories. The first is- Attack not resulting in death. 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- Hate speech against Hindus and within this, the sub-category selected is- Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith. Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. In this instance, a Muslim mob launched a vicious attack on Hindus after members of both communities got into an argument during a bicycle circus event. Here the trigger of the violence was probably non-religious, however, it developed into a religiously motivated crime during the course of the violence as the Muslim mob not only entered the home of a Hindu man and attacked him with stones and rods but also proceeded to hurl caste-based slurs at the Hindus while assaulting them. It can be argued that a caste-specific slur is aimed at her micro identity of belonging to the Dalit section of the Hindu community and not her Hindu identity itself. However, as far as Abrahamic religions are concerned, the micro identities of caste, region, and language are secondary. It is the religious identity that drives the animosity of the perpetrator against the Hindu victim. In this case, while the Muslims hurled caste abuses at the Hindus, the animosity was driven by his animosity towards Hinduism and Hindus. While the immediate trigger of the violence could be the "argument during the circus event" as mentioned in reports, the fact is that caste slurs were also hurled at the Hindu victims by the Muslim perpetrators. The brutal attack coupled with casteist slurs, underscores the religious animosity driving the crime, making it a clear case of religiously motivated hate.

Victim Details

Total Victim

3

Deceased

0


Gender

  • Male 3
  • Female 0
  • Third Gender 0
  • Unknown 0

Caste

  • SC/ST 3
  • OBC 0
  • General 0
  • Unknown 0

Age Group

  • Minor 0
  • Adult 0
  • Senior Citizen 0
  • Unknown 3
Case Status Background
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Case Status


Complaint registered

Case Status Background
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Perpetrators Details

Perpetrators


Muslim Extremists

Perpetrators Range


From 10 to 100

Perpetrators Gender


male

Case Details SVG
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