Hindus stopped from performing religious practices by local Muslims amid illegal mosque construction

Case ID : aa4b3f6 | Location : Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 22 May, 2025
Case ID : aa4b3f6
location Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
date 22 May, 2025
Hindus stopped from performing religious practices by local Muslims amid illegal mosque construction
Restriction/ban on Hindu practices
Restriction on expression of Hindu identity
Attack not resulting in death
Communal clash/attack

Case Summary

In Balampur village of the Sultanpur district, tensions rose after the Hindu community stated that their religious rights and practices were being increasingly restricted due to pressure from the Muslim community. The dispute began in January when the village head decided to renovate an old well that has long held religious significance for the Hindu community. The Muslim community objected to the construction, prompting authorities to stop the renovation out of concern that it might lead to communal rioting. The situation further deteriorated when the Muslim community raised objections to the use of a loudspeaker during the Sunderkand and Aarti in the local temple. In response, the Hindu community questioned the legality of a mosque that was being constructed in the village. The Hindu priest of the village stated that loudspeakers are being played in the mosque four times a day. On Fridays, its volume is increased. The matter escalated when police, acting on a complaint about the illegal mosque construction, arrived in the village. Police tried to stop the illegal construction, but were met with indifference and resistance from the Muslim side. Furthermore, more Muslims gathered armed with sticks and started attacking the police officers, and the situation escalated. The situation was brought under control only after reinforcements arrived, at which point the attackers fled under the cover of darkness. As of the date of writing this report, the investigations were ongoing, and arrests were being made in connection with the case.

Case Images

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of: - Restriction/ban on Hindu practices. Within it, the sub-category selected is: - Restriction on expression of Hindu identity. An example of the state-affected prejudicial and targeted orders against the Hindu community would be a government denying the right of a Hindu or a group of Hindus to hold a religious procession owing to the animosity of non-Hindu groups. Denial of the religious right of the Hindus to assuage the non-Hindu group which harbours animosity to a point where it could lead to violence against Hindus is not only a failure of law and order but is a prejudicial order against Hindus, denying them their fundamental rights to express their religious identity. An example of a hate crime against Hindus by a non-Hindu would be a non-Hindu institution forcing its Hindu employees to abandon religious symbols that a Hindu would wear as an expression of faith owing to inherent prejudice against the faith professed by the victim or a non-Hindu group of people restricting a Hindu group from constructing a place of worship simply because the demography of the area in which the temple is being built is dominated by non-Hindus. Such actions are driven by religious animosity and/or prejudice against Hindus and their faith and would therefore be categorized as a hate crime. The other primary category relevant here is: - Attack not resulting in death. Within it, 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. This case has been added to the tracker because the Muslim community in the village were actively opposing and obstructing the Hindu community’s right to perform their religious practices and express their religious identity. They objected to playing aarti through the use of loudspeakers, even though the use of loudspeakers for azaan and other religious activities from the mosque continued without interference. The differential treatment and selective objection point toward an attempt to suppress outward expressions of Hindu faith. Their actions and objections were not reciprocal, instead, it was one-sided, targeted against Hindus. Furthermore, Muslims also objected to the well that was being renovated just because it held religious significance for the Hindu community, after which the renovation work was stopped due to fear that it might lead to a breach of peace. This essentially portrays the tendency of Muslims to commit violence or breach of peace just to restrict the Hindu identity. This clearly shows their hatred towards Hindus and Hindu religious practices or symbols. This effectively leads to a denial of the fundamental rights of Hindus to practice their faith, in the name of maintaining public order, just because it might offend the other community When Hindus objected to the illegal construction of the Mosque and called the police, Muslims started attacking the police and the people with sticks, which led to riots in the area. In this case, even though the police were attacked, the underlying trigger for the clash was rooted in religious tensions stemming from restrictions being placed on Hindu practices. Therefore, this case has been added to the tracker.

Case Status Background
Gavel Icon

Case Status


Complaint registered

Case Status Background
Gavel Icon

Perpetrators Details

Perpetrators


Muslim Extremists

Perpetrators Range


From 10 to 100

Perpetrators Gender


unknown

Case Details SVG
The details of each case are updated till the day it has been added to the database. It is not practical for us to manually track the progress of every case listed in the Hinduphobia Tracker database. If you have additional information which you believe should reflect here, please provide additional details by clicking the button below. If you believe this case should not be considered a religiously motivated hate crime, you can proceed to raise a dispute using the same button.
Please note the case ID: aa4b3f6 <click to copy case id>, you must enter the same in the form which will pop up after clicking the button.