Hindu sadhus attacked while performing rituals for Charak Puja by Muslim men

Case ID : aa4aed1 | Location : Siliguri, West Bengal, India | Date of Incident : Fri, 11 April, 2025

Case ID : aa4aed1

Siliguri, West Bengal, India

11 April, 2025

Hindu sadhus attacked while performing rituals for Charak Puja by Muslim men

Attack on Hindu religious representations

Defiling religious customs

Attack not resulting in death

Attack against Hindu devotees

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

Two sadhus were attacked while performing rituals for Charak Puja on the banks of a river in Siliguri city, West Bengal. The victims, who were conducting their religious observances peacefully, came under attack by a group of Muslim men who initially disrupted the ritual by throwing bottles, including one filled with alcohol, at them. After being briefly driven away, the attackers returned within minutes, this time armed with weapons. They launched a brutal assault on the sadhus, calling in more people to join the violence. The situation escalated quickly, and the attackers, numbering over eight, severely injured the victims before fleeing. One of the sadhus, Manik Sarkar, sustained serious injuries and, along with the other victim, was admitted to a hospital in Siliguri for treatment. The incident took place amidst an ongoing wave of targeted violence against Hindus Murshidabad district of the State.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the category- Attack on Hindu religious representations. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Defiling religious customs. Sanatan Dharma is not a religion of one book, which is to say that while it has religious scriptures that form the central tenets of the faith, there are several traditions followed through thousands of years, mostly passed from generation to generation orally. There are several such customs and traditions that are followed by various Hindus and Hindu sects. Defiling of these traditions and customs is a breach of an individual or group’s religious practices. Such practices can range from dietary restrictions like not eating non-vegetarian food for a certain period of the year, not eating non-vegetarian food at all, not eating beef since the cow is considered holy in Hinduism, the sanctity of religious customs followed in the house (like many ISCKON devotees), etc. Any malicious action leading to the breach of such traditions or defilement of these traditions owing to animosity towards the faith or for the sake of activism stems not only from the lack of faith in the religion itself but also from disregard for the faith of the devotees who follow the customs/traditions and implicit bias against the faith, the tradition itself. Since these specific traditions are central to the faith of the devotees of that specific sect of Hindus, any non-compliance with these traditional rules would be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. The second primary category selected is - Attack not resulting in death. Under this, the first sub-category selected 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. The second sub-category selected with the primary category 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. This incident constitutes a hate crime due to the deliberate targeting of Hindu sadhus engaged in religious rituals for Charak Puja. The attackers threw a bottle of alcohol at the Hindu sadhus while they were sitting by the riverbank performing puja—an act that was not only physically threatening but also intended to defile the sanctity of the ritual. Alcohol, being a substance generally shunned in such religious ceremonies, was used here to insult and desecrate the faith of the devotees. This hostile act was not accidental or casual; it was carried out with the intent to show contempt for the religious practice and to violate the sanctity of Hindu customs. Following the initial provocation, the attackers returned with weapons and physically assaulted the sadhus, escalating the incident into a violent attack rooted in religious hatred. The fact that the victims were easily identifiable as Hindu religious figures and were harmed in the midst of a sacred observance reveals a clear motivation driven by animosity towards Hindu beliefs. The use of alcohol to disrupt the ritual and the subsequent assault on the devotees mark this as a case of targeted aggression based on religious identity and practices, fitting the definition of a hate crime.