Hindu devotees attacked by Muslims during Rath Yatra procession in West Bengal’s Howrah district

Case ID : 9957d7d | Location : Howrah, West Bengal, India | Date of Incident : Fri, 4 July, 2025

Case ID : 9957d7d

Howrah, West Bengal, India

4 July, 2025

Hindu devotees attacked by Muslims during Rath Yatra procession in West Bengal’s Howrah district

Attack not resulting in death

Attack on religious procession

Attack against Hindu devotees

Case Summary

Hindus residing in the Salap area in the Howrah district of West Bengal came under attack on the evening of 5th July 2025. The incident happened while the Hindu devotees were participating in the traditional Ulta Rath Yatra (return Rath Yatra), an annual religious procession observed in the locality for over four decades. The area falls under the jurisdiction of Domjur Police Station. As the Hindu procession moved through the market area, a group of Muslim youths launched an assault on the devotees without provocation. Eyewitness accounts indicated that the attackers were armed with sticks and sharp weapons and began hurling stones and bricks at the participants in the procession. Several Hindu devotees sustained injuries, with at least fourteen individuals requiring medical attention. Some victims were also physically assaulted during the course of the violence. Following the sudden violence, the Rath procession was halted, and the chariot was placed at the roadside. Police forces, including the Rapid Action Force (RAF), arrived at the scene only after the assailants had fled. Video footage of the incident captured heated exchanges between police personnel and the Hindu residents. Despite the serious nature of the attack, police did not arrest any of the individuals involved. Local residents expressed dissatisfaction with the police response and the absence of accountability for the attackers.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The primary category in this case is: Attack not resulting in death. The secondary category under this 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 other 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. This instance has more than one religious marker that categorises it as a hate crime against Hindus. The Muslims here specifically launched an attack against Hindu devotees participating in the religious procession. This violent response not only underscores the blatant disrespect for Hindu religious sentiments but also highlights the aggression and hostility faced by Hindus for upholding their faith. It reflects an intent to undermine Hindu practices and create a hostile environment for devotees. This incident reveals an attempt to infringe on the Hindu community’s right to religious expression. Such actions not only disrespect the religious significance of the festival but also serve to intimidate and discourage Hindu worshippers from openly practising their beliefs. The attack, therefore, can be seen as a deliberate attempt to convey animosity against Hinduism. Further, the targeting of the Rath procession, an outward manifestation of Hindu religiosity, reveals an ideological hostility grounded not in spontaneous conflict but in a doctrinal aversion to Hindu religious symbols, practices, and visibility. In such cases, the justification for the violence is frequently rooted in objection to the procession's route, its devotional music, or its proximity to non-Hindu religious sites. However, these rationalisations fail to obscure the deeper sectarian motivations that undergird such attacks. The principles of religious supremacism, which view idol worship and its public demonstration as illegitimate or provocative, serve as the true catalyst. In Islamic theology, idol worship, referred to as Shirk, is regarded as the gravest sin. The Qur'an strictly condemns it, and Islamic teachings emphasise the complete rejection of any practice associated with idol worship. Muslims are taught from a young age that idolatry is an unforgivable sin. While this belief is central to the Islamic faith, it has also led, historically and in contemporary times, to intolerance and hostility towards idol-worshipping religions, especially Hinduism. When individuals publicly mock and desecrate Hindu deities, it reflects more than personal disrespect—it is often the manifestation of deep-seated theological contempt against Hindu practices, stemming from the Islamic doctrinal view that idol worship is impure and offensive. Such actions target the identity, beliefs, and dignity of Hindus. Desecration of deities is a deliberate attack on the religious sentiments of the Hindus that stem from the intrinsic animosity against the religion. The event in Salap is thus not an isolated act of communal disturbance but a symptomatic instance of an ongoing pattern of targeted hostility towards Hindu expressions of faith. As such, it falls squarely within the category of religiously motivated hate crime. Moreover, it is important to mention here that the Hindu residents expressed dissatisfaction with the police response and the absence of accountability for the attackers. This, however, does not come as a surprise as the West Bengal police has a history of downplaying violence committed by the Muslim community. Over the past several years, there has been a disturbing pattern in West Bengal where incidents of targeted violence, vandalism, and intimidation against Hindus have either been downplayed, misrepresented, or outright denied by the state police and administration. This whitewashing has become institutionalised under the leadership of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, whose government stands accused of deliberately shielding Islamist elements while clamping down on Hindu rights. A glaring example of this systemic whitewashing is evident in the handling of the Murshidabad violence, as well as multiple other incidents in Basirhat, Malda, Midnapore, and Uttar Dinajpur. In the Basirhat case (March 2025), for instance, when a Kali temple was vandalised and the idol desecrated, the police quickly dismissed the communal nature of the attack and labelled the perpetrator as “mentally unstable” without any serious investigation or due process. This is a familiar pattern used to neutralise public outrage and deflect attention from religiously motivated crimes against Hindus. In the aftermath of widespread anti-Hindu violence in Murshidabad and Malda (April 2025), which included incidents of arson, looting, and idol desecration, the West Bengal Police attempted to present the violence as “minor clashes” or “local disputes” unrelated to religion. Reports indicated that despite credible accounts of Hindu homes and temples being attacked, the police either failed to act in time or took a biased stance that allowed the violence to escalate. In many cases, police statements contradicted eyewitness reports and video evidence shared on social media. The bias of the state extends beyond inaction. There are increasing instances where the state actively suppresses Hindu religious expression. Hindus have been arrested simply for chanting “Jai Shri Ram”, a phrase vilified by sections of the administration and ruling party. Permission for Hindu processions—especially during festivals like Ram Navami or Hanuman Jayanti—is routinely denied on grounds of "law and order concerns", while Muslim religious gatherings face no such hurdles. Moreover, over the years, the Mamata-led government has issued numerous prejudicial directives, like orders restricting Durga Puja immersions, citing Muharram processions. Inaction on anti-Hindu mob violence in areas like Dhulian, Islampur, and Kaliachak. Public endorsements and appeasement of radical clerics and Islamist leaders, while dismissing concerns raised by Hindu groups as “communal provocation”. The systematic suppression of Hindu voices, the denial of communal violence, and the criminalisation of Hindu identity expressions such as “Jai Shri Ram” reflect not just administrative failure but a deeper ideological hostility toward the Hindu community. While the West Bengal Police has downplayed the Malda (Ratua) incident as a minor dispute over the parking of a toto (e-rickshaw), such justifications fail to account for the escalation and the clearly targeted nature of the violence that followed. Even if, for the sake of argument, the initial provocation was non-religious in nature, the aftermath was unmistakably communal, with Hindu temples vandalised, Hindu-owned shops looted, houses attacked, and even cows stolen from Hindu cowsheds. This is not without precedent. A similar pattern was observed during the 2019 Hauz Qazi communal violence in Delhi, where the initial conflict began over a parking dispute, yet spiralled into a targeted attack against Hindus. As reported by OpIndia, a Durga temple was desecrated, and a minor Hindu boy was abducted and assaulted by a group of Muslim youth. Hindu residents were attacked, and their religious sentiments were deliberately provoked. In both cases, we see a recurring trajectory—what may begin as a neighbourhood-level dispute quickly mutates into a full-blown communal attack, often fuelled by pre-existing tensions and religious animosity. Authorities, by choosing to describe such violence as "minor disputes", obscure the communal targeting that follows, thereby denying justice to the victims and emboldening perpetrators. This deliberate downplaying also deflects attention from the systematic patterns of religious hostility that deserve scrutiny and intervention. In Malda, just as in Hauz Qazi, the selective targeting of Hindu symbols, spaces, and livelihoods makes it clear that the violence was not just spontaneous but guided by communal intent, regardless of the initial spark.