Hindu religious procession attacked, devotees assaulted with pelted by members of Muslim community in Jharkhand
Giridih, Jharkhand, India 
3 November, 2025
Case Summary
In the Badgunda village of Giridih district, Jharkhand, communal tensions escalated after a Hindu religious procession was attacked and pelted with stones by members of the Muslim community, who objected to its celebrations. According to reports, on 4 November 2025, Hindu villagers were taking out a Tulsi Vivah procession, where devotees carry decorated idols or images of Goddess Tulsi and Lord Vishnu, an auspicious event celebrated on Dev-Uthani Ekadashi. During the procession, Islamic fundamentalists opposed the celebration and obstructed the passage of the religious procession, leading to arguments and rising hostility between the two communities. The situation further escalated the next morning when the procession reached near the Kali temple. Upset over the disruption of their religious procession, the Hindu villagers gathered at the open premises of the Kali temple, an area commonly used by Muslims for grazing livestock. Members of the Muslim community objected to the gathering, leading to confrontation and violence. Soon, members of the Muslim community began pelting stones and attacking with sticks, leading to a violent confrontation between the two groups. Several people suffered injuries, over 20 of whom were rushed to nearby health centres. Those critically injured were later referred to Giridih Sadar Hospital for advanced treatment. Heavy police deployment was made in the area as communal tensions escalated in the village. The Deputy Commissioner of Giridih, Ram Niwas Yadav, and Superintendent of Police, Dr. Bimal Kumar, arrived at the scene and held separate meetings with both communities to defuse tensions and prevent further escalation. Administrative officials continued to counsel residents in order to maintain peace and communal harmony in the area.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker 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 is 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 its 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, 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 regarded as religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. The second subcategory selected 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 based on 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 traditions/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, two elements 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 sub-category selected here is - Attacked for Hindu identity. In several cases, Hindus are attacked merely for their Hindu identity without any perceived provocation. A classic example of this category of religiously motivated hate crime is a murder in 2016. 7 ISIS terrorists were convicted for shooting a school principal in Kanpur because they got ‘triggered’ seeing the Kalava on his wrist and tilak that he had put. In this, the Hindu victim had offered no provocation except for his Hindu religious identity. The motivation for the murder was purely religious, driven by religious supremacy. Such cases where Hindus are targeted merely for their religious identity would be documented as a hate crime under this category. This case has been added to the tracker because it represents a direct and targeted attack on a Hindu religious procession, constituting a hate crime against Hindus. The incident in Badgunda village of Giridih district, Jharkhand, was not a mere local dispute but a deliberate and orchestrated assault on a sacred Hindu ritual, aimed at obstructing the peaceful observance of the Tulsi Vivah procession. Deliberate obstruction of the procession, followed by violence raised by members of the Muslim community, demonstrated a calculated attempt to disrupt and intimidate Hindus celebrating their faith in public. Such an extreme and disproportionate reaction to a religious procession reflected premeditated communal hostility towards Hindus. The Tulsi Vivah procession is a deeply sacred Hindu ritual symbolising the divine marriage of Goddess Tulsi (the holy basil plant, revered as an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi) with Lord Vishnu, represented in the form of Shaligram. It is usually celebrated on Dev-Uthani Ekadashi, signifying the beginning of the Hindu wedding season. The procession, or Yatra, involves devotees carrying decorated idols or representations of Tulsi and Vishnu through the streets, accompanied by devotional songs, music, and offerings, signifying community devotion, purity, and the renewal of spiritual life. Attacking such a procession was a direct assault on Hindu religious practices and beliefs, constituting a religiously motivated crime. The violence extended into the following day, when Hindu villagers gathered near the Kali Mandap to continue their rituals. Members of the Muslim community objected to their presence, which resulted in stone-pelting and a violent confrontation. This shows that the violence was not isolated but rather aimed at restricting the outward expression of Hindu identity through violence. If there had been any genuine grievance, it could have been addressed through administrative channels; instead, violence was chosen as the response. Such acts of aggression against Hindu devotees engaged in religious worship underline a growing pattern of intolerance and hostility towards public expressions of Hindu faith. The targeting of devotees, identifiable by their participation in a religious ritual, demonstrated that the violence was directed not at individuals randomly but at Hindus practising their faith collectively. The incident was designed to instil fear, disrupt Hindu religious life, and assert communal dominance in public spaces. Taken together, these facts demonstrated that this was a communally motivated attack against Hindus, reflecting deep-rooted hostility towards their faith and community. Such actions were driven by religious animosity and targeted prejudice, fitting the parameters of a religiously motivated hate crime. Accordingly, this case has been added to the Hinduphobia Tracker as a clear instance of a religiously motivated hate crime and a targeted attack on Hindu devotees and religious processions. The attack also reflects a broader and repeated pattern of violence against Hindu religious gatherings across India, where stone-pelting and mob aggression during festivals and processions have become distressingly common. These incidents are not isolated; they arise from entrenched ideological hostility towards Hindu worship, rituals, and symbolism. The Giridih attack exemplified this growing trend, showing how Hindu celebrations are systematically targeted to suppress their expression in public life. This event demonstrated not only a violation of peace but a deliberate attempt to undermine Hindu religious expression and intimidate devotees through violence. Disclaimer: Although media reports state that around twenty people were injured in the violence, available sources do not specify how many of the injured were from the Hindu community. Therefore, the exact number of Hindu victims has been kept unknown in this documentation.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
