Hindu family singled out during large-scale anti-Hindu violence in Murshidabad; victim says that nearby Muslim homes were left untouched

Case ID : aa4b0b4 | Location : Murshidabad, West Bengal, India | Date of Incident : Fri, 11 April, 2025
Case ID : aa4b0b4
location Murshidabad, West Bengal, India
date 11 April, 2025
Hindu family singled out during large-scale anti-Hindu violence in Murshidabad; victim says that nearby Muslim homes were left untouched
Attack not resulting in death
Attacked for Hindu identity
Attacked to induce migration from non-Hindu dominated area
Communal clash/attack
Hate speech against Hindus
Violent threats

Case Summary

Amidst the anti-Hindu violence unleashed by Muslim mobs in Murshidabad under the pretext of opposing the Waqf Amendment Act, a Hindu man from Jafrabad, Samar Das, one of the victims, recounted the harrowing experience of the targeted assaults against the Hindu community and vandalism of his house by the Muslim mob. He said, "A mob entered my house, pelted stones and bricks. I fell after being hit on the head. They then entered my house, broke my almirah and took away 2 bhori or tola gold and ₹20000 cash. I had withdrawn the money from Bandhan Bank for my eye surgery. They put a knife to my wife’s throat and asked her to hand over valuables and earrings.” He added that, "They have issued threats to set my house on fire. They had hurled bombs at my house. My two brothers have been injured. My daughter also got hurt in the bomb attack. We are safer for the time being due to the presence of the BSF." He informed that the police did not show up for 4 hours despite repeated calls. The local Trinamool Congress MLA was also nowhere to be found. Das, who himself is from TMC, stated, “You can see these burnt houses. It wouldn’t have burnt this way if there had been timely action by TMC netas. I am also from the Trinamool Congress, and yet my house was attacked." He said, "Only because we are Hindus. Nothing happened to the nearby Muslim houses. They are safe. They only carried out these attacks. They did it in a pre-planned manner.” He made a revelation about how a mosque was used to direct Muslims to attack the Hindu community in Jafrabad. He stated that, “It was announced from the microphone of the Saritala masjid on Saturday night. That (Muslims) must go out on the field with weapons after Fajr Namaz.” The Hindu man pointed out that, "We are under attack in our homeland of West Bengal, just like Hindus are under attack in Bangladesh. We are stopped from doing Puja. Our temples are being set on fire. Idols of deities are vandalised and set on fire. What is our crime? This is an attack on Sanatan Dharma.” Samar Das slammed Mamata Banerjee, her party leaders Firhad Hakim and Kunal Ghosh, for being indifferent to the plight of the Hindu community of Jafrabad. He said that, “Muslims want to rule here. They want to uproot Hindus from Jafrabad. This is their firm resolve. And despite this, nothing is going through the ears of our State’s Chief Minister. This is even though Hindus are under attack here. If a dog belonging to a Muslim dies in Gujarat, our Mamata govt makes it an issue in Bengal.” Das added, “It has been 10-11 days (since the attack). Children did not have proper meals. They are unable to sleep. They are in a state of terror that something might happen to them. The education of the school-going children has been stopped.” He appealed to the West Bengal government to ensure the rehabilitation and resettlement of the Hindus, who were subjected to violence by frenzied Muslim mobs. He also requested help from the Union Home Minister and the Prime Minister. 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 multiple lives.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker un the primary category of - Attack not resulting in death. The 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. The sub-category selected 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 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 other primary category selected is- Hate Speech against Hindus. The sub-category selected is- Violent threats. Violent threats, explicit, implicit or implied, is the most dangerous form of hate speech since it goes beyond discriminatory and prejudicial language to express the intent of causing harm to an individual or a group of people based on their religious identity and faith. There could be several different kinds of threats that are issued to Hindus based on religious animosity. An explicit threat would mean the direct threat of violence towards an individual Hindu, a group of Hindus or Hindus at large. Physical violence, death threats, threats of destruction of property belonging to Hindus and threats of genocide would mean explicit threats against Hindus for their religious identity. Implicit threats may not be a direct threat but implied through the use of symbols of actions – for example – in the Nupur Sharma case, other than explicit threats, there were also implicit threats when Islamists took to the streets to burn and beat her effigies. It implies that they want to do the same to Nupur Sharma – thereby is considered an implicit threat. Violent threats can be delivered in person, through letters, phone calls, graffiti, or increasingly through social media and other online platforms. It would be important to understand that a threat – explicit or implicit, online or offline – to an individual who happens to be a Hindu does not qualify as a religiously motivated threat. Such a threat, while vile and dangerous, could be owing to non-religious reasons and/or personal animosity. To qualify as a religiously motivated threat, it would need to exhibit an indication that the individual is being targeted for religious reasons and/or owing to his/her religious identity as a Hindu. This case is a clear instance of a religiously motivated hate crime because of the actions described and the stated intent of the perpetrators. The victim and his family were explicitly targeted because they are Hindus. The assailants did not attack nearby Muslim households, clearly indicating that the violence was selectively directed based on religious identity. The victim narrated how repeated threats, bomb attacks, and violence forced Hindus to feel unsafe in their own homes, while Muslim houses remained untouched. The announcement from the mosque's loudspeaker urging Muslims to take to the field with weapons indicates pre-planned, targeted violence, intended to create fear and displacement among Hindus. The Hindu victim stated that the attackers used violent threats, including threats to burn down his house, kill family members, and instil fear in the children. Additionally, the public call from the Saritala Masjid to “go out with weapons after Fajr” is a clear case of hate speech that incited violence against a religious community. The religious motivation, discriminatory targeting, and scale of the attack all affirm that this case is a hate crime. Disclaimer: This case is one among several incidents reported during the Murshidabad violence. The broader context and detailed documentation of the Murshidabad violence compiled by Hinduphobia Tracker is provided here as a reference. Disclaimer: In this case, it is mentioned that members of one family were attacked. However, the exact number of individuals targeted is not specified. Due to this lack of clarity, we have relied on the most recent Indian census data, which indicates that the average family size in India is approximately 4.8 members per household. To ensure a standardised estimation, we have opted to consider an average of 5 members per family. Based on this approach, the estimated total number of victims in this case is calculated as 5 individuals.

Victim Details

Total Victim

5

Deceased

0


Gender

  • Male 3
  • Female 2
  • Third Gender 0
  • Unknown 0

Caste

  • SC/ST 0
  • OBC 0
  • General 5
  • Unknown 0

Age Group

  • Minor 1
  • Adult 4
  • Senior Citizen 0
  • Unknown 0
Case Status Background
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Case Status


Unknown

Case Status Background
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Perpetrators Details

Perpetrators


Muslim Extremists

Perpetrators Range


Unknown

Perpetrators Gender


male

Case Details SVG
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