Muslim mob attack Hindu students for celebrating Holi at Punjab University in Pakistan

Case ID : d882928 | Location : Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan | Date of Incident : Sun, 5 March, 2023

Case ID : d882928

Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan

5 March, 2023

Muslim mob attack Hindu students for celebrating Holi at Punjab University in Pakistan

Attack not resulting in death

Attack against Hindu devotees

Case Summary

As many as 30 Hindu students were attacked by Islamists of Islami Jamiat Tulba (IJT) for celebrating Holi inside Punjab University, Lahore. 15 students were injured in the attack. Not only this, the students who gathered outside the office of the Vice-Chancellor to protest against the attack were also thrashed by the university guards. IJT is a radical Islamic student organisation. Videos of the incident went viral on social media.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

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.