Hindus attacked during the Jalabhishek Yatra in Nuh, bank manager says Muslim mob particularly targetted Hindus

Case ID : b3fc072 | Location : Nuh, Haryana, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 30 July, 2023

Case ID : b3fc072

Nuh, Haryana, India

30 July, 2023

Hindus attacked during the Jalabhishek Yatra in Nuh, bank manager says Muslim mob particularly targetted Hindus

Attack not resulting in death

Attack on religious procession

Attack against Hindu devotees

Attacked for crossing 'Muslim area'

Case Summary

On July 31, 2023, on the auspicious Monday of the Shravan month, a Hindu religious procession came under attack by Islamists in Haryana’s Nuh, a Muslim-majority region. In the targeted attack against Hindus, the Islamists pelted stones at the Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Religious Mewat Yatra and set several cars on fire. It was reported that hundreds of Hindus including men, women and children had been rescued from the Nalhar temple where they were hiding to save themselves from the Islamist mob. It was also reported that anywhere between 2000 to 4000 Hindus had taken shelter in temples of Nuh to save themselves from the violence unleashed by the Muslim mob. Ravi Gupta (40), a manager at Sarva Haryana Gramin Bank's Pinangwan branch, shared his harrowing escape from a Muslim mob attack in Nuh. Gupta was stopped by a crowd of Muslims in Singar while heading home to Hodal. The mob violently assaulted him, looted him, and set his bike ablaze to prevent his escape. Gupta and other victims assert that the mob not only targeted Hindu devotees attending the yatra but also attacked other Hindus passing by or residing in the area.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

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 Haryana's Nuh Islamists took offence to Hindus taking out a religious procession during their holy month of Shravan. When the procession was passing through Nuh, a Muslim-majority region in Haryana, the Muslim mob attacked the Hindu devotees. The testimonies of Hindu victims, like the bank manager revealed that the attack was a religiously motivated one as Islamists were selectively attacking the Hindus after knowing their religious identities. The attack was completely unprovoked and motivated by hostility or prejudice against Hindus and their religious practices. Such acts are driven by intolerance and a desire to intimidate or harm individuals based on their religious identity and qualify as a hate crime.