Stones pelted on Hindu yatras while passing through Muslim-dominated areas in Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh

Case ID : ac55e7e | Location : Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 14 October, 2023

Case ID : ac55e7e

Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, India

14 October, 2023

Stones pelted on Hindu yatras while passing through Muslim-dominated areas in Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh

Attack not resulting in death

Attack on religious procession

Attacked for crossing 'Muslim area'

Case Summary

On 15th October, a Navratri Kalash Yatra was attacked by Islamists in the Lakshmipur area of Kuberasthan Police jurisdiction under Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh. Stones were pelted at the procession when the Kalash Yatra passed through a Muslim-dominated area. A young child was injured during the incident. Kushinagar police have, however, denied a communal angle and said it was a scuffle between two groups. Four people have been arrested in the matter. An FIR has been registered under Sections 147, 323, 504, 506, 336 and 308 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on the complaint of Naresh Sah, uncle of 6-year-old boy Piyush, who got injured in the incident. The FIR was registered against Tarbez, the unnamed son of Mubarak, the unnamed son of Intzaar, Chunnu and unknown people. OpIndia accessed the copy of the FIR. In his complaint, Naresh said his nephew Piyush joined Kalash Yatra with one Satyendra Gupta. When the procession entered the Mosque’s vicinity, some Muslim community members came and asked them to stop the DJ. A scuffle broke down after the accused started abusing Hindu community members. They pelted stones, and one hit Piyush on the head. Piyush fell to the ground and lost consciousness. He was rushed to the hospital for treatment and under critical condition. They also threatened to kill the members of the Hindu community. Dainik Bhaskar’s report suggested that Muslims accused Hindus of chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ in front of a mosque.

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 relevant here 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 instance, the Hindus participating in a religious procession being taken out on the festival of Navratri, a major Hindu festival dedicated to the worship of the goddess Durga and her various forms and celebrated over nine nights across India, were brutally attacked by a group of Muslims who took offence by the procession passing through an area which they consider to be a Muslim area as it is predominantly occupied by people of their community. They also took offence to Hindus chanting Jai Shri Ram slogans. It is important to note that there was no initial provocation from the Hindu side. In fact, it was the Islamists who were offended by the Hindus celebrating their festival. Given that the fundamental motivation behind these actions is contempt for the Hindu religion, this instance has been added to the tracker under the following category. Pertinently, it is important to note here that the police denied a 'communal angle' despite the explicit testimony of Hindus as to how they were attacked specifically because of their religious identity. The police said that it was a "scuffle between two groups". The Hindus have also said that one group - the Muslims - attacked another group - the Hindus, while they were participating in a religious procession. However, the police "denied" a communal angle. The police, in many such cases, where the motive behind the crime is obvious but not explicitly mentioned, deny that the crime committed was in any way motivated by a religious bias or say that there was ‘no communal angle’ to the crime. Several factors are generally at play here. Many a time the police downplay incidents of low-level communal crime because it is their jurisdiction that comes under question. The police also often say that there was ‘no communal angle’ to a crime when there was one because they wish to ensure that owing to the crime already committed, there is no further flare up in the area. Likewise, the Left media and the leftist elite are also inclined to emphasise this "no communal angle" trope, especially wherever the victim of the crime is a Hindu. However, only a police statement or a media report, for instance, cannot be enough to determine whether there is a communal angle present in the crime that has been committed. In fact, to determine whether the crime is communal in nature or not, we need to give emphasis to the ground realities. For example in the case of Rinku Sharma, the Bajrang Dal activist who was mercilessly stabbed in his house in front of his family members in Delhi’s Mangolpuri area in the year 2021, the leftist media and the leftist ecosystem had tried to peddle that there was no communal angle to the crime. Even the police denied that the crime was communal in nature. However, Opindia spoke to several people who are on the ground with the family of Rinku Sharma and we were told that the communal tension in the area is palpable. The family of Rinku Sharma has said that the Muslims of the area held a grudge against Rinku ever since he celebrated the Ram Mandir verdict. Like the case of Rinku Sharma, those cases where even if the police have denied a communal angle or the leftist media have gone on an overdrive to peddle the ‘no communal angle’ trope, the ground reality, like the victim’s family or relative's testimonies, make it clear that there was an obvious religious bias that led to the crime, will be documented in this tracker. In this case, too, the testimonies of the victim Hindus make it clear that the incident was a result of religious hostility by the perpetrators against the Hindus. Therefore, this incident is being added as a religiously motivated hate crime.