Hindu leader and his companion beaten by Muslims in Prayagraj after dispute over Holika Dahan

Case ID : 90a0b53 | Location : Prayagraj (Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Wed, 12 March, 2025

Case ID : 90a0b53

Prayagraj (Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh, India

12 March, 2025

Hindu leader and his companion beaten by Muslims in Prayagraj after dispute over Holika Dahan

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In Ganganagar Mauaima, Prayagraj, the BJP Mauaima Mandal President Dharmendra Kumar Saroj and his Hindu friend Satish Chandra were beaten by Muslims over a dispute regarding the celebration of Holika Dahan in the Katra Dayarampur village. The Muslim community opposed the celebration of Holika Dahan, and when the BJP leader and his friend confronted them, they were severely beaten with wooden sticks. According to the news reports, the victims filed a police complaint against the accused attackers. However, rather than taking action against the perpetrators, the police officers locked them in the police station lock-up. In response, local BJP officials gathered outside the police station. Hindus and Muslims had a disagreement regarding the Holika Dahan celebrations in Katra Dayaram Bagi village. The Muslims argued that Holika Dahan had never been celebrated in the village, and therefore, they opposed it. This led to a confrontation, during which the Muslims physically assaulted BJP Mandal President Dharmendra Saroj and his companion Satish Chandra with sticks, causing injuries. The attackers also took away money from their pockets. The police were alerted about this incident, and they arrived at the scene and attempted to calm both parties. When the situation could not be resolved, the police arrested individuals from both communities. The BJP members said that the Mandal President and his companion were beaten by the police and detained in the lock-up, while the Muslims were released. Outraged by this, BJP supporters created a major uproar at the police station. ACP Phulpur Pankaj Lavania and DCP Ganganagar Kuldeep Gunawat tried to pacify the angry crowd. However, the BJP supporters and workers insisted that a case must be registered against the attackers, including the police station in charge. Following the complaint filed by Mandal President Dharmendra Kumar Saroj, a resident of Katra Dayaram, the police registered a case against the accused, Noor Alam, Yakub, Sharif, Zulfiqar, Jameel, Shahzade, and 15 unidentified individuals. A case was booked under various sections of the BNS, including rioting, unlawful assembly, attempted murder, deliberate insult to peace, robbery, and the SC/ST Act. In response to allegations of negligence, DCP Ganganagar ordered that regional inspector Anand Verma, along with constables Sameer, Sudhir Kumar, and Jamwant, be placed on line duty.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category- Attack not resulting in death. The sub-category selected is- Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim. In several cases, Hindus are attacked for opposing religiously motivated crimes being committed against a fellow Hindu or simply for voicing an opinion opposing radical elements, who either have in the past or continue to persecute Hindus. In such cases, the initial attack against the victim, against which the Hindu was trying to defend the victim, would also need to be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime. Since the initial crime itself was religiously motivated and the subsequent crime of attempting to save the victim or speaking against the radical elements ends up inviting a violent attack, it would also be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. The other 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. In this case, BJP Mauaima Mandal President Dharmendra Kumar Saroj and his friend Satish Chandra were attacked precisely when they opposed the Muslim community’s resistance to the Hindu festival of Holika Dahan. The Muslims of Katra Dayaram Bagi village objected to the celebration, claiming it was never observed before. When the Hindu leaders insisted on performing the ritual, they were brutally assaulted with sticks. Here, the Hindus were not attacked for committing any wrongdoing but for standing up against radical opposition to their religious practice. The very act of asserting the right to celebrate Holika Dahan—a traditional Hindu festival—was treated as a provocation by the radical Muslim group. Therefore, the attack against Saroj and Satish was not just a personal dispute but a communal hate crime aimed at silencing Hindus who oppose religious radicals. The opposition raised by the Muslim community was not against individuals per se, but against the celebration of a Hindu festival itself. By arguing that Holika Dahan had never been celebrated in the village and attempting to prevent it, the attackers were targeting the Hindu religious identity of the victims. Dharmendra Saroj and Satish Chandra were assaulted because they sought to carry out a Hindu ritual. Their Hindu identity, expressed through the act of Holika Dahan, was enough to invite violence. This makes the attack a hate crime rooted in religious supremacy. Hence, this case is categorised as a hate crime against Hindus.