Hotel run by Hindu specifically targeted and vandalised by Muslim mob amidst anti-Hindu violence in Murshidabad
Murshidabad, West Bengal, India 
10 April, 2025
Case Summary
Amidst the anti-Hindu violence that Muslims unleashed in Murshidabad under the guise of protests against the newly enacted Waqf Amendment Act, one of the Hindu establishments attacked was Shri Hari Hindu Hotel. The hotel belonging to a local Hindu was left severely damaged. The Muslim mob responsible for the violence destroyed property, furniture, and signage. The visuals of the aftermath were documented and shared by the news agency ANI, showing the extent of the damage. On 11th April, 2025, Murshidabad district in West Bengal, which has a significant Muslim population, witnessed widespread violence, vandalism, arson, and targeted assaults against the Hindu community, all under the pretext of protests against the newly enacted Waqf Amendment Act. Following the conclusion of Jumma Namaz, mobs went on a rampage in the Suti and Samserganj areas, disrupting train services, damaging public infrastructure, and bringing normal life to a standstill. The office of the Block Development Officer (BDO) was vandalised with stones and sticks, creating an atmosphere of chaos and fear. However, what stands out is the deliberate and systematic targeting of the Hindu community under the guise of these protests. Local reports also suggested that Hindu temples were attacked and idols desecrated. Hundreds of Hindus have been compelled to flee their homes in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district in the wake of an Islamic onslaught carried out under the pretext of protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2025, an outbreak of violence that has already claimed three lives.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category- Attack not resulting in death. The sub-category relevant in this case 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. The other sub-category selected is- Communal clash/ attack. 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. The third sub-category relevant here is- Attacked to induce migration from non-Hindu dominated area. There have been cases where the Hindus living in an area, often with a majority dwelling belonging to non-Hindus or those harbouring animosity towards the Hindu faith, the Hindu residents experience threats and violence. The violence is employed with the aim of making the Hindus leave the area and relocate, so the area could be turned into an exclusive ghetto for adherents of the non-Hindu faith or those who harbor animosity towards the Hindu faith. In several cases, the aim of exodus is explicit. However, in several cases, the demand for exodus of Hindu residents is not explicit, however, violence by non-Hindu residents leaves the Hindu residents no option but to leave the area, thereby, turning the area into an exclusive ghetto of non-Hindu residents. In such cases, there are instances violence against the Hindu residents explicitly. For example, in the Hauz Qazi case of 2019, the Muslim residents claimed that mob violence against the Hindu residents had been triggered by a parking dispute. However, the violence did turn religious with a temple being desecrated and was directed specifically against the Hindu residents. The Hindu residents of the area were clear that the violence was religiously motivated and one of the motives was to affect an exodus of the Hindu residents. In such cases, even though the perpetrators have not explicitly expressed the aim of affecting exodus, the given circumstances and violence and precedent point to the intention of exodus and therefore would be categorized under this sub-category. Such crimes are religiously motivated and therefore are hate crimes. The attack on the Shri Hari Hindu Hotel in Murshidabad during the violence of 11th April 2025 stands as a stark example of a hate crime explicitly targeting Hindus for their religious identity. The Hindu-owned establishment was deliberately attacked and vandalised by Muslim mobs who emerged after Jumma Namaz, under the pretext of protesting the Waqf Amendment Act. The assailants destroyed signage, smashed furniture, and looted the premises, reducing the shop to rubble. This was not an isolated incident of random violence—it was a clear and calculated targeting of a Hindu business, chosen precisely because of the owner’s religious identity, as reflected in the name of the hotel itself. The destruction of Shri Hari Hindu Hotel was emblematic of the broader communal intent behind the violence—to instil fear, cause financial ruin, and punish Hindus for simply existing within a Muslim-majority district. This incident occurred as a part of the widespread anti-Hindu violence in the Suti and Samserganj areas, where a Muslim mob disrupted train services, vandalised the Block Development Officer’s office, and brought normal life to a halt. Local reports confirmed the desecration of Hindu temples and attacks on Hindu homes, forcing hundreds to flee Murshidabad in fear. The communal nature of the violence is further reinforced by eyewitness accounts confirming that local Muslims—not outsiders—were responsible. The targeting of the Shri Hari Hindu Hotel is thus not just an instance of riot-related damage but a symbolic act of religious hatred and economic persecution, intended to terrorise the Hindu community and compel their displacement and justifiably warrants inclusion in the Hinduphobia tracker.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
