Ram Navami Shobha Yatra hurled with stones and bricks; police dismisses it as 'rumour'
Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India 
5 April, 2025
Case Summary
During a Ram Navami Shobha Yatra in Kanpur's Nai Sadak area, organisers filed a complaint stating that stones and bricks were hurled at devotees from rooftops near Chandreshwar Hata while the procession was returning. The incident caused commotion and prompted increased police deployment. However, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Shrawan Kumar Singh stated that initial investigations, including CCTV footage checks, did not corroborate the claims, and no injuries were reported. He suggested it could be a rumour, though the matter remains under inquiry. Police urged the public and media to share any videos or evidence, assured that strict action would be taken against rumour-mongers, and emphasised that the situation was under control with reserved police troops stationed in the area as a precaution.
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.' The first sub-category 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. This case constituted a hate crime as the attack targeted a religious procession during Ram Navami, a significant Hindu festival. The act of throwing stones at devotees participating in a religious ritual was not merely an act of public disorder but one rooted in hostility towards the outward expression of Hindu faith. Hindu processions form an integral part of religious practice, and targeting such processions reflects an intention to intimidate and obstruct the public exercise of Hindu religious identity. These kinds of attacks are often carried out by individuals or groups driven by religious supremacist ideologies that view Hindu practices as offensive or unacceptable. Additionally, the attack specifically targeted Hindu devotees, making their identity a factor in the violence. Such acts are more than isolated incidents of provocation; they stem from deep-seated animosity towards Hinduism and its followers. This event fits within a broader pattern of attacks where Hindus are singled out based on their religious identity, particularly during times of communal visibility, such as festivals or worship. Even if no injuries were recorded and the investigation is ongoing, the nature of the attack — targeting Hindus during a religious event — warrants its inclusion in the tracker. It is 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 attack on the religious procession and would therefore be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. Furthermore, the police, in this case, dismissed the incident as a rumour. The police, in many such cases, where the motive behind the crime is obvious but not explicitly mentioned, deny that the crime committed was in any way motivated by a religious bias or say that there was ‘no communal angle’ to the crime. Several factors are generally at play here. Many a time, the police downplay incidents of low-level communal crime because it is their jurisdiction that comes under question. The police also often say that there was ‘no communal angle’ to a crime when there was one because they wish to ensure that, owing to the crime already committed, there is no further flare-up in the area. Likewise, the Left media and the leftist elite are also inclined to emphasise this "no communal angle" trope, especially wherever the victim of the crime is a Hindu. However, only a police statement or a media report, for instance, cannot be enough to determine whether there is a communal angle present in the crime that has been committed. In fact, to determine whether the crime is communal in nature or not, we need to give emphasis to the ground realities. For example, in the case of Rinku Sharma, the Bajrang Dal activist who was mercilessly stabbed in his house in front of his family members in Delhi’s Mangolpuri area in the year 2021, the leftist media and the leftist ecosystem had tried to peddle that there was no communal angle to the crime. Even the police denied that the crime was communal in nature. However, Opindia spoke to several people who are on the ground with the family of Rinku Sharma and we were told that the communal tension in the area is palpable. The family of Rinku Sharma has said that the Muslims of the area held a grudge against Rinku ever since he celebrated the Ram Mandir verdict Like the case of Rinku Sharma, those cases where even if the police have denied a communal angle or the leftist media have gone on an overdrive to peddle the ‘no communal angle’ trope, the ground reality, like the victim’s family or relative's testimonies, make it clear that there was an obvious religious bias that led to the crime, will be documented in this tracker. Going by the same logic, since the organisers testified that the attack on the procession was deliberate and not accidental, this case has also been included in the hate tracker.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Unknown
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
