Hindu religious procession taken out ahead of Ram Navami attacked with stones by Muslim mob over music
Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, India 
24 March, 2025
Case Summary
A Muslim mob resorted to stone pelting at a Mangla procession near Jama Masjid Chowk in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand. Reportedly, stone pelting started over songs being played during the procession. Notably, this procession, which came under attack, is taken out every year. The Hindu community organises Mangla processions ahead of Ram Navami, with various Akhara groups participating across different parts of the city. The incident occurred during the second Tuesday Mangla procession. As the Hindu participants proceeded peacefully near Jhanda Chowk and Masjid Gali turn, a Muslim mob became agitated by the devotional songs being played during the procession. A heated argument ensued between the mob and the procession members, which quickly escalated into a violent attack. The Muslims began pelting stones at the Hindu devotees. In response, members of the Hindu community also retaliated with stone pelting. The unrest led to vandalism of nearby shops, and the Eid Market had to be temporarily shut down. Senior police officials arrived at the scene in an attempt to de-escalate tensions, but initial efforts were unsuccessful. Consequently, the police resorted to mild lathi-charge and four rounds of aerial firing to disperse the crowd. Officials, including Hazaribagh City SP Arvind Kumar Singh, SDPO Amit Anand, DSP Amit Kumar, and other senior officers, remained at the site to ensure law and order. Deputy Commissioner Nancy Sahay confirmed the incident, acknowledging that stone pelting and a physical altercation had taken place during the Mangla procession near Jhanda Chowk. She further stated that the songs played during the procession had "provoked" the opposing side. Additional police forces have been deployed to the area, and authorities have assured that the situation is now peaceful and under control. The police have launched an investigation using CCTV footage and drone surveillance to identify those involved in the violence.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added under the prime category, 'Attack not resulting in death', of the hate tracker due to the details that suggest that the crime was committed while harbouring a bias against the Hindu faith. Further, four sub-categories have been selected here. The first subcategory is- Attack on religious procession. The outward celebration and display of religious symbols in an intrinsic part of Hinduism. Religious processions on various festivals are age-old traditions and a way to manifest faith and form a part of the religious practices of Hindus. On several occasions, such religious processions come under attack by non-Hindu mobs, in a manifestation of their animosity towards Hinduism and their practices. The reasons cited for such violent attacks are many and range from crossing a non-Hindu resident-dominated area to playing loud music, crossing from an area where there is a religious structure of another faith etc. The violent attacks are triggered by the outward display of religiosity by Hindus. The attacks are mainly a manifestation of religious supremacist doctrine which believes that idolatry, essentially the Hindu faith, is one that deserves to be annihilated since the very tenets of Hinduism, its practices and traditions are considered a sin in those doctrines. Since these attacks emanate from intrinsic and doctrinal animosity towards Hindus and Hinduism, it is considered a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. The second sub-category selected here is- Attack against Hindu devotees. Hindu devotees are a few of the easiest targets of religiously motivated hate crimes because during the festival/procession/puja etc, for non-Hindus it is easy to profile their victims on the basis of religion. Hindu devotees come under attack on several occasions by individual non-Hindus or mobs of non-Hindus owing to their animosity against Hinduism, its symbols and tradition/practices. There are several instances of Hindu devotees being attacked while they worship in temples or temporary religious structures, during religious processions, doing bhajan/kirtan/puja in their own homes, in the residential society etc. These attacks are perpetrated by non-Hindus primarily because of their animosity towards Hindus and their faith. In some cases, the trigger for the violence may be non-religious, however, there are two elements that make these hate crimes. First, the Hindus who come under attack are attacked violently while indulging in religious activity. Whether they are in a place of worship or not is immaterial to the crime. When individuals are attacked while indulging in religious practices, the attack in itself is a hindrance to their freedom to practice religion and therefore constitutes a hate crime. Secondly, religious supremacist doctrines and ideologies deem religious practices of Hindus to be offensive ab initio since they are considered “sinful” by these ideologies, worthy to be annihilated by force or coercion. Driven by these religious supremacist ideologies and doctrines, the attacks against Hindu devotees stem from intrinsic animosity towards Hinduism. In some cases, the trigger for the violence may be non-religious, however, it develops into a religiously motivated crime during the course of the violence. Since these attacks stem from animosity towards Hindus and Hinduism, they are considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. The third sub-category 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 fourth is- Attacked for crossing 'Muslim area'. One of the reasons that Hindus get attacked unprovoked specifically by Islamists is for crossing ‘Muslim areas’. Essentially, Muslim mobs often attack Hindus crossing or present in certain areas which have a majority Muslim population. It has often been cited as one of the reasons to blame Hindus for attacks against themselves, signalling that Hindus displaying religious symbols, taking our religious processions or crossing any area which is dominated by Muslim residents is a provocation in and of itself. These areas are mostly ghettoized areas where mobs mobilize quickly to attack Hindus for a variety of reasons like playing music during a religious procession, crossing a mosque, wearing a tilak or any other religious symbol in a Muslim-dominated area, praying at a local temple in that area etc. There have been cases where the few local Hindus of that area have been attacked on their way to the Temple for prayers as well, simply because the area is considered a Muslim-dominated area. Several times, it is entirely possible that the immediate trigger for the violence against Hindus was non-religious in nature, however, the violence became religiously motivated in nature because the area was Muslim dominated and the residents on the whole harboured animosity towards Hindus, evidenced from the actions of the mob, the slogans, and the nature of the attack. Such crimes are motivated by the religious identity of the victims and are therefore classified as hate crimes under this category. In this instance, the Islamist mob launched a vicious attack on a religious procession taken out by Hindu devotees. The procession was attacked when it was passing through a lane predominantly occupied by Muslims. Notably, there was no provocation from the Hindu side. The trigger for the attack on the procession was the DJ music being played by the Hindu devotees as the procession passed through the 'Muslim dominated' area. The members of the Muslim community were the ones who initiated the attack by hurling stones at the Hindu devotees, who then attacked in self-defence and reprisal. Obviously, it was not the music played by the Hindu devotees that actually triggered the Islamists; in fact, the unprovoked attack was driven by intrinsic and doctrinal religious animosity, which also stemmed from the fact that the Hindu procession was crossing an area which had a Muslim-majority population. In areas with a majority Muslim population, Hindus often face hostility since the tenets of Islam harbour antagonism towards the Hindu faith and the adherents of Hinduism. Such religious and doctrinal animosity manifests in violence against Hindu devotees when religious processions pass areas with a Muslim majority. Since the violence was a product of religious animosity, this case is being categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime.
Case Status
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 10 to 100
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
