Hindu locality attacked by Muslim mob after Lok Sabha results, homes vandalised and bombs hurled
South 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, India 
3 June, 2024
Case Summary
After the 2024 Lok Sabha election results, a Hindu locality in Charabidya, under Basanti Police Station in South 24 Parganas district, was attacked by a Muslim mob. The attackers vandalised houses and hurled country-made bombs. This incident drew parallels to the violence following the victory of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the 2021 West Bengal assembly elections. After TMC's win, where the party secured 215 of 294 seats, widespread violence occurred across the state. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers, mostly Hindus, were targeted. Over a dozen BJP workers were killed, homes were burned, women were sexually assaulted, and thousands were displaced as they fled to safety. The violence left BJP supporters and Hindus critical of the TMC and Muslims in a state of fear and insecurity.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of: - Attack not resulting in death, with sub-category being selected here is: - Attacked for Hindu identity. In several cases, Hindus are attacked merely for their Hindu identity without any perceived provocation. A classic example of this category of religiously motivated hate crime is a murder in 2016. 7 ISIS terrorists were convicted for shooting a school principal in Kanpur because they got ‘triggered’ seeing the Kalava on his wrist and tilak that he had put. In this, the Hindu victim had offered no provocation except for his Hindu religious identity. The motivation for the murder was purely religious, driven by religious supremacy. Such cases where Hindus are targeted merely for their religious identity would be documented as a hate crime under this category. The other sub-category selected is- Communal clash/ attack. 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. This case qualifies as a hate crime because the Hindu locality in Charabidya was targeted purely on account of its Hindu population, following the 2024 Lok Sabha election results. The Hindus in the area had offered no provocation that could justify the assault. Instead, the attack by the Muslim mob was an expression of hostility toward the Hindu community, rooted in their identity. Although framed as political violence in the aftermath of elections, the underlying nature of the assault reveals religious targeting. Hindu households and individuals became the focus of violence by a Muslim mob, with homes vandalised and bombs hurled. The attack was not random but communal in essence, as Hindu identity became the point of profiling and targeting. Much like earlier instances of post-election violence in West Bengal in 2021—where Hindus associated with the BJP were assaulted, killed, or displaced—this incident demonstrates how political triggers develop into religiously motivated violence. The foundational animosity was directed against Hindus, and the attack thus constitutes a communal hate crime against them.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
