Ram Navami procession passing near a mosque attacked, stones pelted
Kota, Rajasthan, India 
28 March, 2024
Case Summary
Tensions flared in Kota's Kaithun town when the Ram Baraat procession was attacked near a mosque. Hindu devotees were assaulted, and the procession was vandalized, with the DJ system's wiring cut and a laptop broken. Videos of the attack circulated online. An altercation arose when the procession neared the mosque, as the Muslim community claimed Friday Namaz was ongoing and tried to stop the DJ. However, organizers stated that Namaz wasn't being conducted when they arrived. Despite stopping the DJ, the procession was attacked from behind with stones hurled at Hindu devotees. Outraged, Hindu devotees gathered outside the police station, accusing miscreants from the Muslim community of assault and vandalism.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The outward celebration and display of religious symbols in an intrinsic part of Hinduism. Religious processions on various festivals are age-old traditions and a way to manifest faith and form a part of the religious practices of Hindus. On several occasions, such religious processions come under attack by non-Hindu mobs, in a manifestation of their animosity towards Hinduism and their practices. The reasons cited for such violent attacks are many and range from crossing a non-Hindu resident-dominated area to playing loud music, crossing from an area where there is a religious structure of another faith etc. The violent attacks are triggered by the outward display of religiosity by Hindus. The attacks are mainly a manifestation of religious supremacist doctrine which believes that idolatry, essentially the Hindu faith, is one that deserves to be annihilated since the very tenets of Hinduism, its practices and traditions are considered a sin in those doctrines. Since these attacks emanate from intrinsic and doctrinal animosity towards Hindus and Hinduism, it is considered a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. In this instance, the Muslim mob launched a vicious attack on a religious procession taken out by Hindu devotees on the occasion of Ram Navami, a significant Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Lord Ram, one of the most revered Gods in Hinduism. The procession was attacked when it was passing by a mosque. Notably, there was no provocation from the Hindu side. The trigger for the attack on the procession was the DJ music being played by the Hindu devotees as the procession passed through the mosque. Despite the Hindus stopping the DJ music, the members of the Muslim community were the ones who initiated the attack by hurling stones at the Hindu devotees. An attack on these volunteers is symbolically seen as an attack on the broader Hindu community and is rooted in religious bias or hatred against Hindus and for this reason. 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.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 10 to 100
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
