Muslim leaders desecrate temple, politician accompanying them breaks rules of the place of worship
Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh, India 
5 May, 2024
Case Summary
On May 6, Akhilesh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo and candidate for the Kannauj Lok Sabha constituency, visited the Siddhapeeth Baba Gauri Shanker Mahadev Mandir in Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh, to begin his campaign. However, after his visit, several youths cleaned the temple with Gangajal. They stated that Muslim leaders accompanying Yadav desecrated the temple by wearing shoes on its premises. They said that entry for non-Hindus is prohibited as stated on a signboard outside the temple. A video of the incident went viral online, prompting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to accuse Akhilesh Yadav of disrespecting Hindu traditions by bringing Muslim leaders who entered the temple wearing shoes and spat inside. The angry youths, who cleaned the temple, expressed their discontent, stating that Yadav showed disrespect by bringing Muslims to the temple. They questioned whether Yadav would visit a mosque or dargah wearing shoes and accused him of insulting Hindu temples.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
Sanatan Dharma is not a religion of one book, which is to say that while it has religious scriptures that form the central tenets of the faith, there are several traditions followed through thousands of years, mostly passed from generation to generation orally. One of these oral traditions or written traditions is the rules of specific temples. Certain temples have rules which are traditional rules, dependent on the worship of the presiding deities. These rules and traditions have been followed for thousands of years whether they find scriptural mention or not. Such traditions are based on the nature and rules of worship of the presiding deity of that temple. Any non-compliance of these traditions owing to animosity towards the faith or for the sake of activism stems not only from the lack of faith in the presiding deity but also disregard for the faith of the devotees of that deity/temple and implicit bias against the faith, the tradition and the deity itself. Since these specific traditions are central to the faith of the devotees of that specific temple and presiding deity, any non-compliance with these traditional rules would be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. In this case, despite knowing that entering a temple with shoes on is disrespectful and insulting to the Hindu faith, the Muslim leaders purposely chose to ignore the fact. Moreover, a signboard placed outside the temple clearly stated that non-Hindus were allowed to enter the Hindu temple premises. Politician Akhilesh Yadav chose to break the rules of the place of worship and take Muslim leaders inside the Temple premises. The Muslim leaders chose to enter the temple and desecrate it by taking their shoes inside and spitting on the premises. The politician who escorted the Muslim leaders inside the temple premises and the Muslim leaders who desecrated the Temple premises, both ended up breaking the rules of the place of worship in question, owing to disregard for the faith of Hindus.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
