Hindu religious event targeted in Mumbai's Govandi: Durga Idol desecrated, devotees attacked by armed Muslim mob as procession passed Mosque
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India 
20 September, 2025
Case Summary
In Annabhau Sathe Nagar, Govandi in Mumbai's Mankhurd area, Hindus faced disruption and violence ahead of Navratri celebrations on Sunday night (September 21). The mandal that organises the festival every year was carrying the idol of Goddess Durga through the locality. When the procession passed a mosque, some Muslims objected to the music being played and became enraged. According to Hindu devotees, one of them vandalised the idol by breaking its hand, sparking outrage. The situation quickly escalated as Muslims began attacking the devotees. Several people reportedly arrived armed with sharp weapons and rods, targeting the Hindus participating in the Navratri procession. What started as a religious procession turned into a violent clash in which Hindus were assaulted and their idol desecrated. Police intervened to bring the situation under control and arrested seven individuals in connection with the attack. An FIR was registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including charges of assault and unlawful assembly. While police later claimed the idol may have broken due to being carried through a narrow lane, Hindu devotees maintained that it was deliberately desecrated and that they were attacked for practising their faith. The incident remained under investigation.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This incident has been added under the primary category- Attack not resulting in death. Within this, the first subcategory selected 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 subcategory relevant here 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. The third subcategory 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 other subcategory chosen 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. This incident is a clear example of a religiously motivated hate crime, as Hindus were attacked while carrying out a peaceful Navratri procession. The devotees were taking the idol of Goddess Durga through the locality, following a practice they have observed every year. When the procession passed by a mosque, Muslims objected to the sound of drumming, using it as a pretext to unleash violence. The objection to music was not the real issue but merely an excuse, reflecting a mindset of Islamic supremacy that seeks to dictate where and how Hindus may express their faith. The attack was completely disproportionate to the situation. Instead of addressing their grievance through lawful means, Muslims resorted to aggressive violence. Hindu devotees were not only obstructed but physically assaulted, and the idol of Goddess Durga was deliberately desecrated. Some attackers even arrived armed with sharp weapons and rods, escalating the confrontation into an assault designed to intimidate and humiliate Hindus in their own religious space. What makes this incident particularly significant is that the Hindus were attacked for daring to practice their faith openly in an area dominated by Muslims. The procession itself was treated as an intrusion, and the violence served as a warning that Hindu religious expression would not be tolerated. This reflects a wider pattern where Hindus are targeted for asserting their identity and are pressured into silence or withdrawal. The combination of idol desecration, physical attacks on devotees, and the use of religious pretexts to justify violence shows that this was not a spontaneous clash but an act rooted in hostility toward Hindu faith and culture. These actions stem from an innate hatred for Hindus and their religion, seeking to break their spirit and enforce subjugation. It is worth mentioning here that the Police later attempted to downplay the incident by suggesting that the idol’s hand might have broken while being transported through a narrow lane. However, this explanation ignores the testimonies of Hindu devotees, who reported that Muslims directly attacked both them and the idol. Such statements from authorities often serve to dilute the seriousness of the attack and shift attention away from the religiously motivated hostility that lay at its core. However, the police, in many such cases, where the motive behind the crime is obvious but not explicitly mentioned, deny that the crime committed was in any way motivated by a religious bias or say that there was ‘no communal angle’ to the crime. Several factors are generally at play here. Many a time the police downplay incidents of low-level communal crime because it is their jurisdiction that comes under question. The police also often say that there was ‘no communal angle’ to a crime when there was one because they wish to ensure that owing to the crime already committed, there is no further flare up in the area. Likewise, the Left media and the leftist elite are also inclined to emphasise this "no communal angle" trope, especially wherever the victim of the crime is a Hindu. However, only a police statement or a media report, for instance, cannot be enough to determine whether there is a communal angle present in the crime that has been committed. In fact, to determine whether the crime is communal in nature or not, we need to give emphasis to the ground realities. For example in the case of Rinku Sharma, the Bajrang Dal activist who was mercilessly stabbed in his house in front of his family members in Delhi’s Mangolpuri area in the year 2021, the leftist media and the leftist ecosystem had tried to peddle that there was no communal angle to the crime. Even the police denied that the crime was communal in nature. However, Opindia spoke to several people who are on the ground with the family of Rinku Sharma and we were told that the communal tension in the area is palpable. The family of Rinku Sharma has said that the Muslims of the area held a grudge against Rinku ever since he celebrated the Ram Mandir verdict Like the case of Rinku Sharma, those cases where even if the police have denied a communal angle or the leftist media have gone on an overdrive to peddle the ‘no communal angle’ trope, the ground reality, like the victim’s family or relative's testimonies, make it clear that there was an obvious religious bias that led to the crime, will be documented in this tracker. Going by the same logic, since the devotees testified that the attack on the procession was deliberate and not accidental, this case has also been included in the hate tracker.
Case Status
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 10 to 100
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
