Maa Lakshmi idol immersion procession attacked with stones as it passed a mosque, idol desecrated

Case ID : a03787b | Location : Siddharthnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Mon, 4 November, 2024

Case ID : a03787b

Siddharthnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India

4 November, 2024

Maa Lakshmi idol immersion procession attacked with stones as it passed a mosque, idol desecrated

Attack on Hindu religious representations

Desecration of Hindu religious symbol

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for crossing 'Muslim area'

Attack against Hindu devotees

Attack on religious procession

Case Summary

In the Siddharth Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, stones were pelted at the Maa Lakshmi idol immersion procession, resulting in damage to an idol and injury to some participants. The incident reportedly unfolded in the Mali Manaiha area in Dumariyaganj on November 5, 2024. According to reports, two female participants of the procession also sustained injuries in the stone pelting allegedly carried out when the Hindu procession was passing near a mosque. Following the incident, outraged Hindus staged a protest demanding action against stone pelters and blocked the road. Upon receiving the information about the alleged stone pelting, the local police rushed to the spot and somehow managed to persuade the protesting Hindu devotees to lift the blockade. Following this, the procession proceeded to immerse the idols. The police have detained one person over alleged involvement in stone pelting and are questioning him. While DM Dr Raja Ganapati R said that someone threw a stone during the immersion of the idol, Siddharth Nagar Police said that no stones were hurled at the Hindu procession, and a false rumour was spread about it.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been documented as a religious hate crime because the details clearly show that the offender had a bias against the Hindu faith and that the offence was performed in conjunction with that bias. Based on the case details, it has been added under two prime categories of the tracker. The first is- Attack on Hindu religious symbols. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Desecration of Hindu religious symbol. Icons and symbols or a religious representation of a spiritual ideal are widely revered in Hinduism. Iconography is of vital significance in the Hindu milieu. It helps connect people’s spiritual beliefs with the real world. Iconography within the Hindu faith takes several shapes and forms. Murtis are of most significance to Hindus, to which daily rituals, prayers and offerings are done. Besides the murtis, there are several other symbols which have deep significance in the Hindu faith – the Om and Swastika for example. Since these Hindu religious symbols hold paramount importance in Hinduism, any desecration of symbols, icons, murtis, religious representations and manifestations, is driven by animosity towards the faith itself which manifests itself through these murtis, icons and symbols. Therefore, any desecration of these Hindu religious symbols and representations is considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. The second category under which this case has been placed is- Attack not resulting in death. Under this, three sub-categories have been chosen, based on case details. The first 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 second sub-category relevant 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. Further, the third sub-category selected under the above-mentioned category of 'Attack not resulting in death' 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. This incident from Siddharth Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, can be analyzed as a religiously motivated hate crime based on its key elements. It includes multiple aspects that align with specific hate crime categories due to the nature of the act, the religious context, and the alleged targeting of Hindu devotees. Firstly, the perpetrators pelted stones, specifically targeting the Maa Lakshmi idol immersion procession, resulting in damage to the idol. Such acts are nothing but attempts to insult or denigrate Hindu religious symbols. In Hinduism, idols are sacred and central to worship, so damaging an idol during a procession is perceived as an act of religious disrespect. Secondly, the perpetrators also targeted Hindu devotees, which left two women devotees injured. It is important to note that the stone pelting reportedly occurred when the procession was passing near a mosque. This reveals a disturbing sense of religious supremacy harboured by the attackers. The perpetrators viewed the predominantly Muslim-occupied region as an exclusive zone where non-Muslims, particularly Hindus were unwelcome. This sense of entitlement and superiority not only reflects deep-seated prejudice but also highlights an attempt to assert religious dominance over public spaces. The attack on the Hindu religious procession was motivated by this supremacist ideology, where the perpetrators looked down upon Hindus, believing that they had the right to dictate who could move freely through the area. The act of attacking the procession for simply crossing through this space illustrates a dangerous mindset rooted in exclusion, intolerance and religious animosity, making this case an ideal example for inclusion in a hate tracker. Notably, the police denied that stones were pelted at the Hindu religious procession. Despite the DM, Dr Raja Ganapati R, confirming the same, Siddharth Nagar Police dismissed it as rumours. 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 local residents and the DM testified that stones were pelted at the Hindu religious procession was deliberate and not accidental, this case has also been included in the hate tracker. Further, it is important to mention here that though the last update was that the miscreants were unknown, regardless, the action stemmed out of hatred against Hinduism and resulted in the desecration of the sacred temple and would therefore be considered a religiously motivated hate crime.