Muslim mob pelts stones at Durga Puja procession over music, desecrate Maa Durga idol
Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, India 
6 October, 2024
Case Summary
In Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, a clash between Hindu and Muslim communities occurred during a procession carrying the idol of Maa Durga in the Padrauna police station area. The conflict arose when a group of Muslim youths objected to devotional songs being played by the DJ during the procession, leading to a heated argument. The situation escalated into a violent confrontation, with stone pelting resulting in the damage of the Devi statue. Following the incident, Hindus blocked the Padrauna-Kasaya road in protest, demanding action against the culprits. The protest caused a significant traffic jam, prompting the police to intervene. A large police force from multiple stations arrived, used force to disperse the crowd, and cleared the road. Several men and women were detained. Additional Superintendent of Police Ritesh Kumar Singh confirmed that a case had been registered, with 10 individuals detained for their involvement in the violence.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
Distinct elements in this particular case demonstrate that the crime was committed while harbouring a bias against the Hindu faith. As per case details, there are two prime categories under which this case has been placed in the hate tracker, namely, 'attack not resulting in death' and 'attack on Hindu religious symbols'. Further, under the first prime category, two sub-categories have been selected. The first 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 selected under the first prime category 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. Likewise, two sub-categories have also been selected under the second prime category. The first is- Desecration of Hindu religious symbol- Icons and symbols or a religious representation of a spiritual ideal are widely revered in Hinduism. Iconography is of vital significance in the Hindu milieu. It helps connect people’s spiritual beliefs with the real world. Iconography within the Hindu faith takes several shapes and forms. Murtis are of most significance to Hindus, to which daily rituals, prayers and offerings are done. Besides the murtis, there are several other symbols which have deep significance in the Hindu faith – the Om and Swastika for example. Since these Hindu religious symbols hold paramount importance in Hinduism, any desecration of symbols, icons, murtis, religious representations and manifestations, is driven by animosity towards the faith itself which manifests itself through these murtis, icons and symbols. Therefore, any desecration of these Hindu religious symbols and representations is considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. The second sub-category under which this case has been placed is- Communal clash- 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. 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, were brutally attacked by a group of Muslims who took offence to the devotional songs being played on the DJ during the procession. 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 merely celebrating their festival. Stones were pelted and the idol of Goddess Durga was damaged. The Muslims provoked the Hindus by hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus, after which the individuals of the two communities clashed with each other. The fact that Muslims resorted to stone-pelting during the protest in Saharanpur suggests a level of premeditation, as it is unlikely that a large quantity of stones would have been present at the scene by coincidence. Such an act requires preparation, indicating that the mob of Muslims may have planned the violence in advance. 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
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
