Bus carrying Lord Ayyapa devotees attacked by Muslim mob for playing devotional songs
Rayachoti, Andhra Pradesh, India 
4 December, 2024
Case Summary
Hindu devotees on a bus including the driver were attacked by a mob in Rayachoti town in Andhra Pradesh. As per reports, the bus was carrying devotees of Lord Ayappa, and came under the attack of a mob comprising of large number of Muslims. Videos of the attack have gone viral on social media. The bus was attacked because of Hindu devotional songs played in the vehicle. The mob alleged that the volume of the music was too loud and was audible from outside, and asked to stop it. But they didn’t stop at that, they proceeded to assault the devotees travelling on the bus. They also assaulted the driver. In the videos, a large number of people can be surrounding the bus, creating a ruckus. They also damaged the bus and smashed the windows. From the video it is clear that a Muslim mob carried out the attack as most of them are seen wearing skull caps. The large number of crowds on the street blocked the road completely, with vehicles stranded on the road. Police were seen struggling to clear a path for the commuters, and were unable to control the mob. The mob was also seen chanting slogans.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the primary category 'Attack not resulting in death'. Under the primary category, three sub-categories have been selected. The first sub-category selected 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 selected in this case 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. In this case, the Lord Ayyappa devotees were on their way to the Sabrimala temple when they came under attack by a Muslim mob. The reason being reported is that they were playing devotional songs which were audible to people outside - essentially - audible to the Muslim population outside. Expression of religious identity in the form of singing devotional songs and chanting religious epithets is a part of the Hindu faith. An attack on those actions stems out of inherent religious hostility and animosity where the mere sound of devotional songs of Hindus is perceived as an affront to the religious rights of the Muslims. Further, it is pertinent to note that this incident took place in the Rayachoti area where there is an over 50% Muslim population. Therefore, this case is also being added to the sub-category '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. Attack on such religious processions stems out of the scriptural, doctrinal and inherent hostility towards Hinduism. Muslim extremists perceive the very expression of Hindu identity in their presence as an affront to their religious identity since non-Muslims are considered sinners and 'kafirs' in Islam. This animosity is the motivating factor behind attack on religious processions and therefore, this case is being documented as a religiously motivated hate crime. It is also important in this case to address the police denial of communal angle. The police in the case "denied communal angle" and threatened to take action against those spreading the narrative. However, it is important to note the following: 1. The police confirmed that the bus carrying Ayyapa devotees was stuck in front of a mosque. 2. The police confirmed that Muslims from the mosque became irate, screaming slogans. 3. The same is confirmed by visuals of the incident. 4. The police confirmed that a "peace meeting" was held between both communities (Hindus and Muslims). From these revelations, it is clear that there indeed was a conflict which was initiated by the Muslim community against the Hindus. In fact, there would be no need for a 'peace meeting' had there been no conflict itself. 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, the video and the statement of the police itself confirm a religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus and therefore, it has been documented as such. Disclaimer: The exact number of perpetrators is not mentioned in the reports, however, a cursory look at the video footage confirms that there was a large mob, consisting of more than 100 people. Therefore, the Hinduphobia Tracker is conservatively recording the perpetrator count as 100.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
