Ram Navami Shobha Yatra attacked with stones and bombs in Murshidabad

Case ID : a4aed33 | Location : Murshidabad, West Bengal, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 16 April, 2024

Case ID : a4aed33

Murshidabad, West Bengal, India

16 April, 2024

Ram Navami Shobha Yatra attacked with stones and bombs in Murshidabad

Attack not resulting in death

Attack on religious procession

Attack against Hindu devotees

Case Summary

During the Ram Navami celebrations in West Bengal's Rejinagar, Murshidabad district, a Ram Navami Shobha Yatra procession from Shaktipur School was attacked. Miscreants pelted stones and hurled bombs at the procession, resulting in injuries to at least 20 devotees. A woman sustained severe injuries and was admitted to Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital, while others received treatment at local hospitals. Stones were thrown from the roof of a house, prompting the deployment of CAPF and police personnel to the area to control the situation. BJP IT Cell Head Amit Malviya criticised the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government for failing to protect the procession, emphasizing that Hindus were targeted in the attack. Videos of the incident circulated on social media, showing miscreants pelting stones at passersby and the religious procession. Murshidabad has become a hub for crude bomb-making ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, with police discovering such bombs in various locations in the area.

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, 'Attack on 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. In this instance, the Islamist mob launched a vicious attack on a religious procession taken out by Hindu devotees on the occasion of Ram Navami, a significant Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Lord Ram, one of the most revered Gods in Hinduism. The procession was attacked with stones and bombs. Notably, there was no provocation from the Hindu side. Since bombs and stones were hurled it becomes obvious that the attack was premeditated and carefully planned. The use of such weapons requires preparation, acquisition of materials, and coordination among participants, all of which suggest a deliberate and organized effort rather than a spontaneous act of violence. It is also 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.