Hindu pride attacked: Muslim mob vandalises Ashoka Emblem placed in Hazratbal Dargah in Srinagar, declare it anti-Islam
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India 
6 September, 2025
Case Summary
A Muslim mob vandalised a newly installed marble plaque at the Hazratbal Dargah in Srinagar on 05 September 2025, smashing the Ashoka Emblem carved on the foundation stone of a new structure at the shrine and declaring it anti-Islam. The attackers claimed that engraving the national emblem on the plaque violated Islamic traditions. National Conference politician Tanvir Sadiq supported this sentiment, arguing that the emblem was a breach of the Islamic principle of Tawheed and stating that idol worship is strictly forbidden in Islam. Posting on X, Sadiq insisted that sacred spaces should reflect only Tawheed’s purity. Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board Chairperson and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dr Darakhshan Andrabi condemned the act, describing it as a terrorist attack and urging the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister to ensure the immediate arrest of those involved. She accused political factions of orchestrating the vandalism to dishonour both the shrine and Kashmir’s spiritual heritage. Andrabi criticised Sadiq, asserting that he lacked the standing to be considered a leader and accusing him of fostering militancy. She further stated that the perpetrators were connected to the ruling party’s network in Jammu and Kashmir.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category in this case is: Attack on Hindu religious representations. The subcategory under this is: Desecration of Hindu religious symbol. Icons and symbols or a religious representation of a spiritual ideal, are widely revered in Hinduism. Iconography is of vital significance in the Hindu milieu. It helps connect people’s spiritual beliefs with the real world. Iconography within the Hindu faith takes several shapes and forms. Murtis are of most significance to Hindus, to which daily rituals, prayers and offerings are done. Besides the murtis, there are several other symbols which have deep significance in the Hindu faith – the Om and Swastika for example. Since these Hindu religious symbols hold paramount importance in Hinduism, any desecration of symbols, icons, murtis, religious representations and manifestations, is driven by animosity towards the faith itself, which manifests itself through these murtis, icons and symbols. Therefore, any desecration of these Hindu religious symbols and representations is considered a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. This case is included in the tracker because it demonstrates a clear pattern of Muslim hostility towards Hindu religious identity and its manifestations. The desecration of the Ashoka Emblem at Hazratbal Dargah was not an isolated act of vandalism but a deliberate attempt to target a symbol that, in the Indian civilisational context, carries profound religious and cultural significance rooted in Hindu tradition. The Ashoka Emblem is the State Emblem of India, yet to the Islamist mindset, it is emblematic of Hindu civilisation, which Islamists view as fundamentally opposed to their religious and political worldview. This interpretation stems from a deep-seated belief in Islamic exclusivity, where the global Muslim community, or Ummah, is considered the sole legitimate collective, and all non-Islamic traditions, particularly Hinduism, are seen as idolatrous, inferior, and antagonistic to Islam. The State Emblem of India is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka from Sarnath, carved in the 3rd century BCE. It shows four lions standing back to back on an abacus with a Dharmachakra and reliefs of an elephant, a horse, a bull and a lion. Independent India adopted it on 26 January 1950, with the motto Satyameva Jayate from the Mundaka Upanishad placed below. The targeting of this emblem is not only an attack on India as a sovereign nation but also on Hinduism as a spiritual and cultural force. Islamic theology has historically held idol worship and polytheistic traditions in contempt, and this disdain translates into hostility toward Hindu symbols, murtis, and spiritual imagery, which occupy a central place in the Hindu faith. From the Mughal period onwards, Islamic rulers systematically targeted Hindu temples and sacred sites across the subcontinent. Temples such as the Somnath Mandir were repeatedly attacked, desecrated, and destroyed by successive Mughal rulers, including Mahmud of Ghazni, Aurangzeb, and others, often under the justification of combating idolatry and asserting Islamic supremacy. These acts were not mere opportunistic raids but deliberate efforts to undermine Hindu religious identity and erode the spiritual and cultural fabric of the Indian civilisational landscape. The logic of idol worship being impermissible under Islam became a tool to delegitimise and attack Hindu practices, a mindset that has persisted among Muslims into the modern era. The very foundation of the Partition of India in 1947 rested on the Islamist assertion that Islam was a distinct nation that could not coexist within a Hindu-majority civilisation. This separatist ideology continues to drive animosity, framing India as a Hindu collectivity and, by extension, its national symbols as Hindu religious emblems. Thus, when Muslims desecrate these representations, it is not merely a local protest but a broader ideological act aimed at undermining India’s civilisational ethos and asserting Islamic dominance. In this case, the religious justification offered by leaders like Tanvir Sadiq, invoking Tawheed and rejecting the emblem as “anti-Islamic,” exemplifies the Islamist rejection of visual religious representations. It also reveals the weaponisation of Islamic theology to legitimise violence against Hindu religious imagery and the Indian state, which is itself perceived as a Hindu entity. By attacking this emblem, the mob was not only defiling a national symbol but also promoting the Islamist belief that Indian civilisational expressions have no place in Islamic sacred spaces or, more broadly, in territories that Islamists consider their own. This act reflects a long-standing pattern where Muslims project their disdain for idol worship onto all Hindu symbols, treating them as enemies of their faith and of the Ummah. For these reasons, the desecration of the Ashoka Emblem is categorised under “Attack on Hindu religious representations” and “Desecration of Hindu religious symbols.” It highlights that Islamist extremism in India is not merely political dissent but a theological campaign rooted in centuries of hostility towards Hindu spiritual traditions. By vandalising a revered emblem tied to India’s national identity, the perpetrators sent a message of religious supremacy, rejecting Hinduism and its symbols as illegitimate, and equating Indian nationalism itself with idol worship. This incident, therefore, underscores the deep-seated and historical animosity that has existed against Hindus, ranging from systematic temple desecrations in the Mughal era to contemporary attacks on symbols perceived as Hindu or Indian. It reflects how Muslims continue to weaponise religious imagery and ideological rhetoric to target Hindu identity, reinforcing patterns of hate that are both historically rooted and ideologically sustained. The inclusion of this case in the Hinduphobia Tracker is essential to document this continuity of targeted aggression, illustrating that assaults on symbols like the Ashoka Emblem are part of a broader effort to delegitimise and undermine the Hindu presence within India.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 10 to 100
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
