Muslim mob pelts stones at Hanuman Jayanti procession because of Hindus playing music

Case ID : a4aed02 | Location : Balasore, Odisha, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 13 April, 2024

Case ID : a4aed02

Balasore, Odisha, India

13 April, 2024

Muslim mob pelts stones at Hanuman Jayanti procession because of Hindus playing music

Attack not resulting in death

Attack on religious procession

Communal clash/attack

Case Summary

There was turmoil during a procession for Hanuman Jayanti in Balasore, Odisha, on April 14, 2024, when stone pelting occurred, leading to clashes and injuries to four people. The procession, headed towards the Kanak Durga temple, was disrupted by the pelting around 4:40 PM by Muslim perpetrators. Hindus defended themselves, resulting in damage to property, including a police vehicle. Additional forces were deployed to quell the violence, with four injured individuals receiving treatment. According to Odisha's ADG Law and Order IPS Sanjay Kumar, the dispute started over reducing the volume of music playing in the Shobha Yatra. Authorities are working to restore calm, engaging with both sides. MP Pratap Sarangi urged peace, while police vowed swift action, registering a case and investigating the incident, aided by video footage.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This particular case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under two subcategories of the prime category 'Attack not resulting in death' because of the various distinct components that demonstrate the perpetrator's bias against the Hindu faith and their deliberate attempt to harm the Hindus. The first sub-category under 'Attack not resulting in death' relevant in this case 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 sub-category under which this case has been listed is, 'communal clash' 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. In this case, the Hindu men were attacked by Islamists for celebrating Hanuman Jayanti, a significant Hindu festival that marks the birth of Lord Hanuman. It is important to note here that there was no sort of provocation from the Hindu side. In fact, the Muslims took offence to music played by the Hindus and launched a vicious attack on their religious procession. It is important to note that initially, there was no provocation from the Hindu side. In fact, it was the Islamists who were offended by the Hindus celebrating their festival. Only after the Islamists began pelting stones at the procession, did the Hindus defend themselves, sparking a subsequent conflict. Given that the fundamental motivation behind these actions is contempt for the Hindu religion, this instance has been added to the tracker under the following category.