Hindu devotees attacked during Kali Puja as Muslim mob storms temple in Cooch Behar, West Bengal
Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India 
19 October, 2025
Case Summary
A group of Muslim men attacked a Kali temple during ongoing Kali Puja rituals on October 20, 2025, in the Shalbari-1 area under the Tufanganj Assembly constituency of Cooch Behar district, West Bengal. According to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, the assailants, identified as “jihadis,” stormed the premises while preparations were underway for the Kali Puja on Diwali. When members of the local puja committee tried to intervene, the attackers physically assaulted them. The incident came just a day before another act of desecration was reported from Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas district, where the idol of Goddess Kali was found beheaded at a puja pandal during Diwali and Kali Puja celebrations. Both incidents occurred within a 24-hour period, reflecting an alarming trend of targeted violence against Hindu symbols and places of worship in West Bengal. Adhikari shared details of both incidents on social media, condemning the attacks and accusing the Mamata Banerjee-led government of shielding Islamist groups responsible for anti-Hindu violence. He said such recurring assaults on Hindu religious spaces were part of a deliberate effort to intimidate the community and erase its cultural identity from the state’s public life.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category in this case is: Attack on Hindu religious representations. The subcategory under this is: Attack on Temples. In Hinduism, a temple is the abode of the Deity. The Deity in the Temple is consecrated, thereby, making it a real, breathing entity. Hindus believe that not just the Deity but the temple premises itself are sacred to Hindus since Hindus hold the faith that the entire Temple space is an amalgamation of the divine energy of the deity. Given the central significance of Temples in Hindu Dharma, any attack against a Hindu Temple or its peripheral premises is an attack on the faith itself and is born out of animosity towards the faith, of which, the Temple is a central tenet. Any manner of attack against a Temple and/or its premises would therefore be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. Another primary category in this case is: Attack not resulting in death. The subcategory under this 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 case has been added to the tracker because it represents yet another targeted attack against Hindu religious spaces and devotees in West Bengal, a state that has seen a sustained pattern of anti-Hindu aggression under the Mamata Banerjee government. The assault on the Kali temple in Tufanganj during active Kali Puja rituals, followed within twenty-four hours by the beheading of a Kali idol in Kakdwip, reflects a deeply worrying trend of deliberate desecration and intimidation aimed at silencing Hindu expression and faith-based community practices. The nature, timing, and setting of the Tufanganj attack—during Diwali and Kali Puja, when devotees gather in worship—underscore its religious motivation. The attackers stormed the temple premises and physically assaulted the puja committee members who tried to protect the sanctity of the site. This was not an isolated instance of violence but a manifestation of broader hostility towards Hindu worship and symbolism. When such acts occur amid major Hindu festivals, their intent is to desecrate, humiliate, and terrorise, not only the immediate victims but the community at large. Over the past several years, West Bengal has witnessed a steady escalation in religiously motivated attacks against Hindus, ranging from vandalism of temples and desecration of idols to mob violence and intimidation of devotees. Under the Mamata Banerjee-led administration, these incidents have often been trivialised, misrepresented, or completely denied by the state police and local authorities. The pattern has become unmistakable: whenever Hindu temples are attacked or idols desecrated, the state machinery swiftly attempts to suppress the communal angle, portraying the incidents as minor disputes or acts of vandalism by “unknown miscreants.” This institutional whitewashing has eroded faith in due process. The government’s selective silence and inaction toward Islamist aggression, coupled with its repeated portrayal of Hindu resistance as “communal provocation,” have emboldened extremist elements. In districts such as Basirhat, Malda, Murshidabad, and Cooch Behar, Hindu festivals and processions are routinely obstructed on grounds of “law and order,” even as Islamist mobs operate with impunity. The Tufanganj and Kakdwip incidents form part of this continuum of hate crimes. Both attacks directly targeted Hindu religious symbols and practices during sacred festivals, intending to cause maximum spiritual and emotional harm. The coordinated nature and the state’s failure to acknowledge or address the communal motivation behind such acts point to a systemic environment of hostility toward Hindus in West Bengal. These crimes, driven by ideological animosity against Hinduism, qualify as religiously motivated hate crimes and are documented here as part of a growing record of targeted violence against the Hindu faith and its followers.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
