Hindus abused with casteist slurs and attacked near mosque during Tiranga Yatra in Prayagraj; Muslims desecrate national flag

Case ID : e275145 | Location : Prayagraj (Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 14 August, 2025

Case ID : e275145

Prayagraj (Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh, India

14 August, 2025

Hindus abused with casteist slurs and attacked near mosque during Tiranga Yatra in Prayagraj; Muslims desecrate national flag

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Hate speech against Hindus

Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith

Case Summary

In Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, Hindus participating in an Independence Day rally with the national flag and a DJ were attacked by Muslims. The incident occurred when the Hindus were passing by a mosque. The Hindu victims were subjected to casteist slurs, and the national flag was desecrated by the Muslim perpetrators. According to media reports, a Tiranga Yatra, an Independence Day rally, was organised from Piyari to Hata by the Sonkar Navyuvak Committee. The rally began from Piyari at around 1 pm, with a DJ provided by Vikas Kumar Halpata Thana Manda Village, a resident of Ratyaura village of Koraon police station area. About fifteen minutes later, as the Yatra reached a religious place in Koodar village, some members of the Muslim community demanded that the DJ be stopped. A dispute ensued, which led to a scuffle in which Hindus were attacked by Muslims and the national flag was desecrated. The DJ operator was stopped, pushed, and assaulted. The Muslim perpetrators were identified as Sultan, Sarfaraz, Tasleem, Ayan, Sahil, Salman, Sufi, Naseem, Suhail, Abdul Samad, and Muzammil. The perpetrators abused the tricolour flag and addressed Hindus with casteist slurs. They then tore the national flag, threw it to the ground, and trampled it underfoot. The DJ equipment was also broken by the Muslims. Some of the Hindu victims, namely Shivshankar, Satish, Shivraj, and Pankaj Sonkar, sustained injuries during the incident. Upon receiving information about the incident, the police arrived and attempted to pacify both communities. Later that evening, participants in the Tiranga Yatra went to the Manda police station and demanded action against the accused. One of the victims lodged a police complaint, leading to a case being registered against eleven Muslim accused. Subsequently, two of them were arrested by the police.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Attack not resulting in death. Within this, the subcategory 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. Another primary category selected in this case is- Hate Speech against Hindus. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith. Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. This incident constitutes a hate crime and a religiously motivated attack against Hindus. It is important to clarify that although the violence starts with Muslim perpetrators objecting to the playing of a DJ as the Independence Day rally passes by a mosque, it quickly escalates into targeted attacks on Hindus. The victims are subjected to anti-Hindu caste-based slurs and the desecration of the Indian national flag. The underlying motive runs much deeper than a mere dispute over music. In countless instances, it is seen that Muslims perceive India as a Hindu collectivity, resulting in deliberate desecration and harm to national symbols, rooted in animosity towards Hindus. This mentality is shaped by the concept of the Ummah, where Muslim brotherhood is prioritised and the majority Hindu population is viewed as an adversary. This very notion played a central role in the formation of Pakistan and often means that Muslims feel little or no patriotism towards India, since they view it as a Hindu collectivity. Henceforth, when Indian national symbols are desecrated in such attacks, it arises from ingrained hatred of Hindus and Hindu collectivity, making this a clear example of a religiously motivated offence. The attack on Hindus over such a minor issue reveals that the DJ and rally are mere pretexts for targeting them. The deliberate desecration of the national flag, accompanied by abusive language, followed by violence targeting Hindus, shows that the Muslim perpetrators harbour hatred for Hindus as a community. The coordinated and targeted violence exposes the premeditated nature of the attack. Such actions are deeply rooted in religious animosity and serve to terrorise and exclude the Hindu community, making this an unmistakably religiously motivated crime. Furthermore, Hindu victims were subjected to casteist slurs during the assault. While one might argue that caste-specific abuse targets a micro-identity rather than the victims' broader Hindu identity, within the worldview of Abrahamic religions, distinctions such as caste or region are secondary. It is the religious identity that fuels the animosity. In this case, while the Muslim attackers use caste-based insults, the underlying hatred is directed at Hinduism and the Hindu community. Thus, these caste-based slurs are, in essence, anti-Hindu, motivated by animosity towards the Hindu community as a whole, making the religious motivations behind the crime even more evident. Given that this case meets several parameters of a religiously motivated crime, it is being added to the hate crime database. Disclaimer: Media reports state that Hindus were targeted by Muslims in this incident. However, the reports do not specify the total number of Hindu victims. A few victims are specified—namely, Shivshankar, Satish, Shivraj, and Pankaj Sonkar—as well as the DJ operator, who was also Hindu. Therefore, for the purpose of documentation, a conservative estimate has been used, and the victim count is recorded as '5', referring to the individuals: Shivshankar, Satish, Shivraj, Pankaj Sonkar, and the DJ operator.