Hindu man assaulted for displaying religious identity on motorbike

Case ID : e27489a | Location : Surat, Gujarat, India | Date of Incident : Fri, 13 June, 2025

Case ID : e27489a

Surat, Gujarat, India

13 June, 2025

Hindu man assaulted for displaying religious identity on motorbike

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In Surat, Gujarat, a young Hindu man was assaulted by three unidentified individuals for having the word “Hindu” written on his bike. The victim, Pradeep Shivshankar Tiwari (31), a resident of Shri Hari Mahadevnagar in Dindoli and employed as a recovery agent, had visited the Lalgate-Chauta area with his friend Ayush Umashankar Shukla and some female acquaintances for shopping. While his friends went to Chauta Bazaar, Pradeep waited near Hakim Chichi’s medical store with his bike. Three men approached and attacked him after noticing religious words like “Hindu” and “Mahadev” written on his bike. Pradeep filed a complaint at Lalgate police station the following day. Lalgate police registered a case and launched an investigation. Police Inspector N.M. Chaudhary stated that no leads have been found so far, but the attackers’ identities will be confirmed once they are apprehended.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Attack not resulting in death. Within it, the sub-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. This incident qualifies as a hate crime as the Hindu victim was physically assaulted solely due to the religious symbols displayed on his motorbike. The words “Hindu” and “Mahadev,” both expressions of religious identity, triggered the attack by the three unidentified assailants. The victim was not involved in any confrontation or dispute, but was targeted because of his visible expression of Hindu identity. Such acts reflect deep-seated animosity towards the Hindu faith and constitute a deliberate attempt to intimidate individuals from publicly identifying with their religion. Much like other documented hate crimes where individuals have been harmed for wearing sacred threads, applying tilak, or displaying religious motifs, this attack on Pradeep Tiwari was driven by prejudice. It reflects a pattern where the mere affirmation of Hindu identity in public spaces provokes hostility and violence, highlighting the need to treat such assaults as religiously motivated hate crimes.