Hindu family harassed by local Muslims to induce migration, put up house for sale

Case ID : b507428 | Location : Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 14 November, 2024

Case ID : b507428

Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India

14 November, 2024

Hindu family harassed by local Muslims to induce migration, put up house for sale

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Attacked to induce migration from non-Hindu dominated area

Case Summary

In the Raoji Bazar area of Indore, a Hindu family was forced to consider selling their home after repeated harassment and threats from local Muslim youths. The trouble began a month prior in the Juni Indore locality, Prakash Ka Bagicha, where Rajesh Kalmoiya, a resident, filed an FIR against Shadab, Rais Nitra, Sonu (alias Irfan), and others for assault following a dispute. The accused retaliated by threatening Rajesh and his family, demanding they withdraw the complaint. On November 15, several individuals, including Shadab, Rais, Sonu, Salim, Jallu, Rijju (alias Rizwan), Rehana, and Mona (alias Heena), reportedly approached Rajesh’s wife, Meenakshi, to pressure her into compromising. When she refused, they escalated their actions, throwing firecrackers at the family's house around 3 a.m. on Saturday night. Frightened by the repeated harassment, the family wrote "House for Sale" on their door and became compelled to sell their house. Hindutva supporters, angered by the incident, staged a protest on November 17 and lodged an additional FIR against nine people. The accused, Shadab, was initially jailed following police action but was later released on bail. This release left Rajesh Kalmoiya, the head of a Dalit family, and his family living in constant fear. Rajesh disclosed that Shadab’s family members had been intimidating them, making them feel as though something terrible could happen at any moment. Despite the police's earlier assurances that the National Security Act (NSA) would be applied to Shadab, this measure was not implemented. Rajesh mentioned that, in the past, police officers would frequently visit his house, but they have not been seen on his street for several days now. This absence intensified the family's sense of vulnerability. Rajesh expressed that they are now faced with two dire choices: either to flee or to consider suicide.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- attack not resulting in death. Under this, the first prime category selected 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 second sub-category relevant here is- Attacked to induce migration from non-Hindu dominated area. There have been cases where the Hindus living in an area, often with a majority dwelling belonging to non-Hindus or those harbouring animosity towards the Hindu faith, the Hindu residents experience threats and violence. The violence is employed with the aim of making the Hindus leave the area and relocate, so the area could be turned into an exclusive ghetto for adherents of the non-Hindu faith or those who harbor animosity towards the Hindu faith. In several cases, the aim of exodus is explicit. However, in several cases, the demand for exodus of Hindu residents is not explicit, however, violence by non-Hindu residents leaves the Hindu residents no option but to leave the area, thereby, turning the area into an exclusive ghetto of non-Hindu residents. In such cases, there are instances violence against the Hindu residents explicitly. For example, in the Hauz Qazi case of 2019, the Muslim residents claimed that mob violence against the Hindu residents had been triggered by a parking dispute. However, the violence did turn religious with a temple being desecrated and was directed specifically against the Hindu residents. The Hindu residents of the area were clear that the violence was religiously motivated and one of the motives was to affect an exodus of the Hindu residents. In such cases, even though the perpetrators have not explicitly expressed the aim of affecting exodus, the given circumstances and violence and precedent point to the intention of exodus and therefore would be categorized under this sub-category. Such crimes are religiously motivated and therefore are hate crimes. A Hindu family, in this case, faced relentless harassment and threats from local Muslim youths. This sustained intimidation, culminating in the family’s consideration to sell their home, highlights a pattern of targeting individuals based on their faith. Such acts are not isolated confrontations but deliberate tactics to exert dominance and create an atmosphere of fear, pressuring Hindus to migrate from areas where they are a minority. The religious animosity is evident in the organized nature of the harassment, which escalated from threats to the use of firecrackers to terrorize the family. By forcing the family to contemplate leaving their home, the perpetrators aimed to alter the demographic fabric of the area, reinforcing a divisive agenda rooted in religious intolerance. Such tactics not only deny the victims their basic right to live peacefully but also reflect a broader attempt to suppress minority religious identities in specific locales. This incident underscores how religious animosity manifests through targeted actions designed to intimidate, isolate, and displace individuals based on their faith. Since intrinsic animosity towards Hindus became the motivating factor of the crime, this case has been documented as a religiously motivated hate crime in this tracker.