Hindu family forced to abandon ancestral home due to intimidation and torture by Muslim mob

Case ID : aa4afe2 | Location : Howrah, West Bengal, India | Date of Incident : Fri, 25 April, 2025

Case ID : aa4afe2

Howrah, West Bengal, India

25 April, 2025

Hindu family forced to abandon ancestral home due to intimidation and torture by Muslim mob

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked to induce migration from non-Hindu dominated area

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In the Chatterjee Hat area of Santragachi, located in the Howrah district of West Bengal, a Hindu family was forced to migrate due to sustained torture and intimidation by local Islamists. Dipak Chowdhury, a member of the affected family, stated that they were subjected to persistent threats and harassment by various Islamists, particularly two individuals, Sheikh Nizamuddin and Sheikh Mustafa Hasan. They threatened him and told the family that there was no place for Hindus in the Muslim dominated neighbourhood. They further warned that neither the police nor even the Chief Minister would intervene to help them. Following continuous intimidation and fearing for their safety, Dipak Chowdhury and his family, which includes two young children, were compelled to abandon their ancestral home. Initially, the victim tried to file a complaint with the local police, but the police refused to provide help, further deepening the family's sense of helplessness. As of the date of writing this report, a formal complaint was filed, but despite this, the family had not been able to return to their home.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - 'Attack not resulting in death', with the sub-category being selected as - '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 other sub-category selected here 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. In this instance, a Hindu family was forced to leave their ancestral home after facing systematic torture and intimidation by Islamists, particularly two Muslim individuals, Sheikh Nizamuddin and Sheikh Mustafa Hasan. This case follows the familiar pattern where Muslims, in Muslim majority areas, tend to force non-Muslims, especially Hindus, to migrate. This is achieved through various means such as physical intimidation, threats, harassment, torture, and constant discrimination. This reveals a disturbing sense of Islamic supremacy harboured by the attackers. In this case, the perpetrators viewed the predominantly Muslim-occupied region as an exclusive zone where non-Muslims, particularly Hindus, were unwelcome. This sense of entitlement and superiority not only reflects deep-seated prejudice but also highlights an attempt to assert religious dominance over public spaces. The sustained torture and intimidation meted out to the Hindus was motivated by this supremacist ideology, where Islamists in the area looked down upon Hindus, believing that they had the right to dictate who could move freely through their community. This act of subjecting local Hindus to persistent threats and harassment illustrates a dangerous mindset rooted in exclusion, intolerance and religious animosity, making this case an ideal example for inclusion in a hate tracker. The fact that even the Police refused to help initially shows the amount of control and power the Muslim community have in some areas.