Bhagwan Parshuram Yatra attacked by stone pelting by Muslim mob
Kaman, Rajasthan, India 
23 May, 2023
Case Summary
On May 24, 2023, the Bhagwan Parshuram Yatra, organised by Hindus in Jurhera village, Kaman, Rajasthan, was attacked by individuals from the Muslim community, resulting in injuries to participants. The Yatra, held on a large scale, faced opposition from certain Muslim shopkeepers due to music being placed. Despite assurances to lower the volume, tensions escalated when more individuals were called, leading to stone-pelting and the use of lathis against the Hindu participants. Allegations suggest a police constable named Shaheed provided sticks to the attackers instead of defusing the situation. The Hindus halted the Yatra, summoned the police, and demanded action against the perpetrators. Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghawal criticised the ruling party for favouring the Muslim community, implying religious bias. Tensions persist in Jurhera village following the incident, with additional police deployed and suspects detained for interrogation. DSP Pradeep Yadav confirmed the incident and detention of individuals involved. The Hindu Brahmin community, which organised the Yatra, plans to file an official complaint against the accused. Injured individuals received prompt medical attention.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This particular case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under two subcategories of the prime category 'Attack not resulting in death' because of the various distinct components that demonstrate the perpetrator's bias against the Hindu faith and their deliberate attempt to harm the Hindus. The first sub-category under 'Attack not resulting in death' relevant in this case is 'Attack on religious procession'. The outward celebration and display of religious symbols in an intrinsic part of Hinduism. Religious processions on various festivals are age-old traditions and a way to manifest faith and form a part of the religious practices of Hindus. On several occasions, such religious processions come under attack by non-Hindu mobs, in a manifestation of their animosity towards Hinduism and their practices. The reasons cited for such violent attacks are many and range from crossing a non-Hindu resident-dominated area to playing loud music, crossing from an area where there is a religious structure of another faith etc. The violent attacks are triggered by the outward display of religiosity by Hindus. The attacks are mainly a manifestation of religious supremacist doctrine which believes that idolatry, essentially the Hindu faith, is one that deserves to be annihilated since the very tenets of Hinduism, its practices and traditions are considered a sin in those doctrines. Since these attacks emanate from intrinsic and doctrinal animosity towards Hindus and Hinduism, it is considered a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. The second sub-category under which this case has been listed is, 'Attack against 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. Lord Parshuram is one of the ten avatars of Lord Vishnu, one of the principal deities of Hinduism. Together with Brahma and Shiva, Vishnu forms the principal trinity of Hindu religious practice. The perpetrator, in this case, attacked a religious procession Hindu devotees were taking out to commemorate Lord Parshuram. The trigger of the attack was the DJ music the Hindus were playing while taking out the procession. It is important to note that there was no provocation from the Hindu side, In fact, Hindus had assured that they would keep the volume low to avoid any sort of disturbance to others, despite this, the Islamists pelted stones and assaulted the devotees. Without any provocation from the victim's side, the Muslim perpetrators attacked the victim, underscoring the deep-rooted hatred the accused harboured towards Hinduism. Given that the fundamental motivation behind this incident is contempt for the Hindu religion, this instance has been added to the tracker under the following category.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
