Muslism pelt stones at Hindus activists while they pass through a 'Muslim area', were returning from 'Shaurya Jagran Yatra' of Ram temple

Case ID : e97a45d | Location : Hazaribag, Jharkhand, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 7 October, 2023

Case ID : e97a45d

Hazaribag, Jharkhand, India

7 October, 2023

Muslism pelt stones at Hindus activists while they pass through a 'Muslim area', were returning from 'Shaurya Jagran Yatra' of Ram temple

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for crossing 'Muslim area'

Attacked for supporting/being part of perceived Hindu party/org or working for Hindu community

Attack on religious procession

Case Summary

An incident of stone pelting on Hindus has come to light in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand. Stones were pelted at Hindu activists, including volunteers associated with Bajrang Dal and RSS, returning from the 'Shaurya Jagran Yatra' organized in the state capital Ranchi in the Muslim-dominated Pelawal area. 10 people including a woman have been injured. This incident happened near a mosque on October 8, 2023. According to the eyewitness, Islamists attacked the bus and started pelting stones, damaging window glasses and the front glass of the bus when it stopped in front of the mosque. Interacting with the media, an elderly lady who sustained serious injuries in the head during the attack said, “We all were returning to our places and were raising slogans of Jai Shri Ram throughout the journey, though when we are crossing the area where the incident occurred a Muslim man after listening to the slogan charged towards the bus with others.” “They commenced heavy stone pelting on the bus in which I got injured, everyone was hiding underneath the seats while they destroyed the whole bus, ” she added.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

According to the case details, 'Attack on religious procession,' 'Attacked for crossing 'Muslim area'' and 'Attacked for supporting/being part of perceived Hindu party/org or working for Hindu community' are the three sub-categories under the core category 'Attack not resulting in death' under which this case has been listed. The first relevant sub-category in this case is, 'Attack on religious procession.' 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. The second relevant sub-category in this case is, 'attacked for crossing 'Muslim area''. 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. The third relevant sub-category in this case is, 'Attacked for supporting/being part of perceived Hindu party/org or working for Hindu community' In several cases, Hindus are attacked specifically or tangentially for their association with parties or organisations perceived to be pro-Hindu and/or for working in favour of the Hindu community. One of the classic cases was the attack against a Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha (BJYM) worker Praveen Nettaru. Nettaru was attacked and hacked to death for his association with Hindu organizations and his work for the Hindu community. He was murdered by PFI, a terror organization which aimed to commit a genocide of Hindus, target Hindu leaders specifically and turn India into an Islamic Nation. In such cases, it is possible that the immediate trigger for the violence is non-religious – either according to the perpetrator or the police. However, there are surrounding circumstances from which the conclusion can be reached that the victim was attacked for his association with a Hindu organization. In a similar case, Rinku Sharma was attacked by radicals. He was a member of Bajrang Dal and regularly worked for the Hindu community. While the police cited a different non-religious trigger for the attack, it is true that he was associated to a Hindu organization and the family of Rinku Sharma specifically attributed his gruesome murder to him working for Bajrang Dal and raising Jai Shree Ram slogans. Such cases are intrinsically driven by religious hate and would therefore be documented as a hate crime under this category. In this case, a Hindu religious procession taken out to commemorate the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya came under attack by Islamists. For Hindus, the Pran Pratishtha event represents the pinnacle of centuries-long struggles to reclaim Lord Ram’s birthplace and reinstate Bhagwan Ram to his Janmabhoomi. The return of Lord Ram to Ram Janmabhoomi is a testament to the thousands of devotees, particularly the Karsevaks, who gave up everything to continue battling for a site that was forcibly taken by Islamic fundamentalists who humiliated the native Hindus by erecting a mosque on top of an already existing temple. However, Muslim mobs, owing to their animosity towards Hinduism, Hindu religious places and especially the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya which has special spiritual, cultural and religious significance, launched unbridled attacks against Hindu devotees celebrating the Ram Mandir Pran Prathishtha event. The attacks, like this one, were rooted in religious bias or hatred against Hindus. Moreover, in this case, RSS and Bajrang Dal volunteers were brutally attacked by a group of Muslims who took offence by the procession passing through an area which they consider to be a Muslim area as it is predominantly occupied by people of their community. It is important to note that there was no initial provocation from the Hindu side. In fact, it was the Islamists who were offended by the Hindus celebrating their festival and chanting Hindu religious slogans, as attested by one victim herself. The RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) is a Hindu nationalist party, that promotes the cultural and spiritual heritage of Hinduism and advocates for the values and principles of Hindu society. Bajrang Dal is the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), which is affiliated with the RSS. Both organisations are involved in activities promoting Hindu culture and values and the volunteers of these organisations work as defenders and promoters of Hindu identity and interests. 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, this case has been included in the tracker.