Thousands of Muslims pelt stones, attack police station over a social media status of a Hindu man

Case ID : 90a0787 | Location : Mysore, Karnataka, India | Date of Incident : Mon, 10 February, 2025

Case ID : 90a0787

Mysore, Karnataka, India

10 February, 2025

Thousands of Muslims pelt stones, attack police station over a social media status of a Hindu man

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked over 'Blasphemy'

Case Summary

In Mysore, Karnataka, a group of Muslims stone pelted at Udaygiri police station over a WhatsApp status of a Hindu man, who posted a meme about the Delhi Elections 2025. The WhatsApp status, which was titled 'three idiots' had a photoshopped picture of Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, and Akhilesh Yadav wearing skull caps. It also had a person performing namaz and Arabic words were written all over. The post also reportedly contained some remarks against Muslim religious leaders. The Muslim community was outraged by this as they claimed that their religious sentiments were hurt. In one video that went viral on social media, a group of Muslims could be seen demanding the immediate arrest of the Hindu man and the death penalty for the ‘Gustakh-e-Rasool’ (blasphemer of the Prophet). Enraged Islamists gathered outside the Udayagiri Police Station, demanding immediate action. Despite the police taking suo motu cognizance, arresting the youth, and registering a case against him, the mob refused to disperse and resorted to large-scale violence. They raised provocative slogans, pelted stones and created arson, injuring 14 police officers in the process. It was alleged that after provocative slogans by Maulvi Mufti Mushtaq Maqbuli, over 1,000 Islamists started protesting and later attacked the police station. The city police registered an FIR against a crowd of over 1,000 people in connection with the incident and arrested 16 persons in connection with the same.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added as a religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus under the prime category of- 'Attack not resulting in death' of the tracker. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Attacked over 'Blasphemy'. Blasphemy essentially refers to the desecration of anything which is held sacred/holy to a group of people. However, for religious supremacist groups, the elements of ‘blasphemy’ are ever-changing, shifting and expanding – leading to infringement on the rights of other religious groups, freedom of speech and expression, threats and even physical violence. There are instances where blasphemy is also used as a dog whistle to target Hindus owing to intrinsic animosity towards Hinduism. There are several instances where stating truths as mentioned in the non-Hindu doctrine itself has led to unmitigated violence against Hindus. There have also been instances where non-Hindus have themselves created a ‘blasphemous’ situation, like placing a Quran in a temple, to use it as an excuse to attack Hindus. Essentially, Blasphemy charges are often made up and/or are used to shut down any form of criticism of non-Hindu faiths and as a tool to target Hindus. Any physical violence over Blasphemy charges against Hindus are foundationally based on animosity for Hindus and their faith owing to religious supremacist ideologies, therefore, such attacks would be documented as religious motivated hate crimes under this category. This case has been documented as a religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus, as the violence was instigated by Islamist mobs who targeted a Hindu man and law enforcement officers over a so-called 'blasphemous' social media post. The attack, which included stone-pelting, arson, and injuries to police personnel, was an attempt to enforce radical blasphemy laws through mob violence, highlighting a deep-seated intolerance toward Hindus. As seen in several cases, blasphemy laws are often used as tools of oppression and violence, leading to false accusations, mob justice, and social ostracisation of Hindus. This law, which is liberally used in Muslim-majority countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh to attack minority Hindus residing there, has become increasingly common in India too, where bloodthirsty Islamists often twist and use these laws to settle their scores with Hindus. The misuse of blasphemy laws against Hindus is often motivated by religious prejudice, as Hindus are targeted solely because of their religious identity. The Mysore incident is a clear example of this pattern, where a perceived insult to Islam was used as an excuse for large-scale violence against a Hindu individual and law enforcement authorities. The deliberate targeting of Hindus under the pretext of blasphemy laws and the violent enforcement of religious supremacy through mob attacks are clear markers of Hinduphobia, making this case a religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus.