Muslim mob attacks Hindus with sticks for celebrating Holi near mosque
Hyderabad, Telangana, India 
23 March, 2024
Case Summary
In Chengicherla near Ghatkesar, Hyderabad, tension erupted on March 24 when a Muslim mob attacked the local Hindu community during their Holi celebrations. The incident occurred in the Medchal-Malkagiri district. Reports suggest that Hindus lighting the traditional Holi Bhogi fire and playing songs provoked objections from Muslims praying in a nearby mosque, claiming disturbance to their Ramadan prayers. Videos circulating on social media depict the attackers wielding sticks in the presence of police, targeting Hindu girls, men, and women.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the category- Attack not resulting in death and within this, the case has been placed under the sub-category of '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. The second sub-category relevant here is- 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. In this instance, the conflict was triggered after Islamists launched an attack on Hindus during Holi celebrations. The Muslims participating in Ramadan prayers inside a mosque took offence to Hindu devotees playing music while lighting the Holika Dahan. The initial trigger of the violence itself was religious in nature, in this case, since the Muslim mob attacked the Hindu devotees owing to them celebrating their religious festival with music, while the Muslims praying inside the mosque wanted them to refrain from their celebration, keeping Islamic sensibilities in mind. When the Hindu devotees insisted on celebrating their festival per their own customs, the Muslim mob attacked the Hindus. It is pertinent to note here that the Hindus had not demanded that the Muslim devotees stop their celebration, it was, in fact, the Muslims who had tried to impose their religious considerations on the Hindus by attempting to stop them from celebrating their festival. Due to the perpetrator's obvious contempt for the victim's faith, this case qualifies for documentation under this hate tracker.
Case Status
Complaint not filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
