Ram Navami procession attacked by Muslims while it passes a mosque

Case ID : a4aed46 | Location : Bokaro, Jharkhand, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 16 April, 2024

Case ID : a4aed46

Bokaro, Jharkhand, India

16 April, 2024

Ram Navami procession attacked by Muslims while it passes a mosque

Attack not resulting in death

Attack on religious procession

Attack against Hindu devotees

Attacked for crossing 'Muslim area'

Case Summary

During a Ram Navami procession in Jharkhand's Bokaro district, Muslims obstructed the procession as it passed a mosque in Jalagaon, pelting stones at Hindu participants and causing severe injuries. The injured were rushed to the hospital, and a significant police presence was deployed at the scene. The incident occurred around 6:30 pm near the local Shiv Mandir, with Muslims halting the procession and initiating the attack. Police intervened swiftly, preventing further violence. Additionally, unverified reports suggest that Muslims may have set some vehicles on fire during the incident. Massive police force and security personnel were deployed at the spot. In the stone pelting by the Muslim mob, more than half a dozen people including deputed magistrate Amrit Topno, a police personnel were injured.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This particular case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under three 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 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. The third sub-category under which this case has been listed 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. In this case, all the above three elements are present. The Islamists in this case attacked the Hindu religious procession being taken out during Ram Navami, celebrated to commemorate the birth of one of the most revered Hindu Gods, Lord Ram. The procession was attacked with stones while it was going through an area the perpetrators deemed to be a Muslim one because it was primarily populated by members of their community. Notably, there was no provocation from the Hindu side. In fact, according to the details of the case, when the procession passed a mosque, the Muslims halted the procession and initiated the attack. Such attacks are a form of symbolic aggression against the Hindu community that stems from an innate hatred for Hinduism. Given that the fundamental motivation behind these actions is contempt for Hindus and their religion, this instance has been added to the tracker under the following category.