Bajrang Bali idol desecrated and buried in the ground by minor Muslim boy
Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India 
30 December, 2024
Case Summary
In Patan tehsil of Jabalpur district, Madhya Pradesh, a 14-year-old Muslim boy vandalised and buried a statue of Bajrang Bali in the Jai Bajrang Akhara. The boy damaged the statue, discarded equipment such as dumbbells, and buried the idol in the ground. Local Hindus and members of Hindu organisations, angered by the act, demanded strict action and held demonstrations at the site. The police quickly detained the minor. They claimed that the boy was mentally unstable and made arrangements for his treatment. Meanwhile, workers of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal wrote warnings on the Akhara’s walls, prohibiting Muslim entry and cautioning about potential consequences. The district coordinator of VHP, Raja Thakur, described the act as an attack on religious sentiments and called for strong measures to address it.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Attack on Hindu religious representations. Under this, the first prime category selected is- Attack on Temples. In Hinduism, a temple is the abode of the Deity. The Deity in the Temple is consecrated, thereby, making it a real, breathing entity. Hindus believe that not just the Deity but the temple premises itself are sacred to Hindus since Hindus hold the faith that the entire Temple space is an amalgamation of the divine energy of the deity. Given the central significance of Temples in Hindu Dharma, any attack against a Hindu Temple or its peripheral premises is an attack on the faith itself and is born out of animosity towards the faith, of which, the Temple is a central tenet. Any manner of attack against a Temple and/or its premises would therefore be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. The second sub-category selected here 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. Despite understanding that Hinduism reveres and regards its deities as sacrosanct, the minor Muslim boy vandalised a statue of Lord Hanuman, a highly revered god in Hinduism. The other disturbing aspect of this case is that the accused was a minor child. This sheds light on how, tragically, this animosity against the Hindus and their faith seems to be ingrained in them since childhood. The venomous seed of hatred has historically been sown by Muslim radicals particularly targeting Hindus who have borne the brunt of this prejudice. They openly endorse the concept of Islamic supremacy and harbour animosity toward Hindus. Though it was a Muslim child who vandalised the Hindu idol, it highlights the Islamists' ingrained animosity against Hinduism, which catalyses these kinds of horrific acts. Another important aspect of this case is that the police claimed that the Muslim boy was mentally unstable. In several cases, where Muslims vandalise and desecrate Hindu places of worship, a usual trope to shield the perpetrator is to attribute the crime to the mental health of the accused, claiming that the crime was committed since the perpetrator was ‘mentally ill’ or ‘mentally unstable’. The police and the media, in many such cases, where the crime has been committed against the Hindu faith by a non-Hindu perpetrator, deny that the crime committed was in any way motivated by a religious bias and attribute it to the perpetrator’s mental health. 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 the crime was committed since the accused was mentally unstable because they wish to ensure that owing to the crime already committed, there is no further flare-up in the area. In fact, there are many cases where this strategy has been used by the media to downplay such incidents where the crime was committed by a Muslim perpetrator, for example, the attack on the Gorakhnath temple or the incident in Telangana where two Muslim women wearing burqa tried to damage temple and church idols. Likewise, in this case too, when a Muslim minor was caught vandalising the Hindu idol, the police attributed the act to his mental illness. The use of the "mental illness" trope to justify crimes targeting Hindu temples or idols by Muslim perpetrators raises critical questions. If perpetrators are indeed mentally unstable, why do they specifically target Hindu idols and places of worship, leaving mosques untouched? This selective focus suggests that such acts are not driven by mental health issues but by religious animosity. The repeated use of this narrative to downplay crimes against Hindus reflects a strategic effort to whitewash religious hatred, obscuring the true motivations and intentions behind the attacks.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
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