Muslim mob threatens a bus full of Hindu pilgrims in Ahmedabad, stop them from chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ in a Muslim area
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India 
7 October, 2023
Case Summary
One of the buses in which the activists were chanting Jai Shri Ram slogans and absorbed in Ram bhajans was stopped by a Muslim mob. The Hindu activists were returning to Vadodara and were threatened by the Islamists near Chandola. It may be noted that Chandola is a ‘Muslim majority’ area. As soon as Muslim youths stopped the bus, a prominent Muslim crowd gathered at the spot and threatened the Hindus saying how could they chant Lord Rama’s name in ‘their’ area. “Why are you raising slogans (of Jai Shri Ram) in our area? If you want to raise slogans, go to your locality,” the Islamists threatened. In the video of the incident that went viral, the Muslims were further heard threatening, “What if we chant Nara-e-takbir and Allahu Akbar in your area?” The Muslim crowd could also be seen shaking hands with the police personnel present at the spot. And the policemen could be seen standing helplessly against this fundamentalist mob. No complaint was registered in this regard.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The first primary category this case is being added to is 'attack not resulting in death' under the sub-category '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 other sub-category that this case is being added to is 'attacked for crossing Muslim area'. One of the reasons that Hindus get attacked unprovoked specifically by Islamists is for crossing ‘Muslim areas’. Essentially, Muslim mobs often attack Hindus crossing or present in certain areas which have a majority Muslim population. It has often been cited as one of the reasons to blame Hindus for attacks against themselves, signalling that Hindus displaying religious symbols, taking our religious processions or crossing any area which is dominated by Muslim residents is a provocation in and of itself. These areas are mostly ghettoized areas where mobs mobilize quickly to attack Hindus for a variety of reasons like playing music during a religious procession, crossing a mosque, wearing a tilak or any other religious symbol in a Muslim-dominated area, praying at a local temple in that area etc. There have been cases where the few local Hindus of that area have been attacked on their way to the Temple for prayers as well, simply because the area is considered a Muslim-dominated area. Several times, it is entirely possible that the immediate trigger for the violence against Hindus was non-religious in nature, however, the violence became religiously motivated in nature because the area was Muslim dominated and the residents on the whole harboured animosity towards Hindus, evidenced from the actions of the mob, the slogans, and the nature of the attack. Such crimes are motivated by the religious identity of the victims and are therefore classified as hate crimes under this category. In this case, a Muslim mob threatened Hindu devotees for chanting the 'Jai Shri Ram' slogan. "Jai Shri Ram" is a religious chant that is widely used in Hinduism as an expression of devotion to Lord Rama. Chanting this phrase is a form of religious expression, and penalizing someone for it could be seen as infringing on their right to religious freedom. Further, restricting someone from chanting a Hindu religious slogan can also be considered a prejudicial order denying the Hindu community its fundamental rights. It is important to note here that there was no provocation from the Hindu side. The Hindu devotees were absorbed in Ram bhajans when their bus was stopped by the Islamists, who then threatened them and warned them against chanting the religious slogan. Further, the reason given by the Islamists to stop the Hindus from expressing their devotion was that the bus was in a 'Muslim area. By labelling the area as exclusively Muslim due to the demographic majority, the Muslims try to intimidate the Hindus and restrict them from following their religious practices. In a pluralistic society, the right to practice and celebrate one's religious traditions is fundamental, regardless of the demographic composition of a particular area. Denying this right can be seen as a violation of religious freedom and can contribute to a sense of alienation and resentment among the affected community. This is particularly done, when one community harbours animosity for the religious beliefs of the other community. Such actions are discriminatory and indicative of religious bias. Consequently, this incident is being categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus.
Case Status
Complaint not filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
