Shop run be Hindu specifically targeted and vandalised by Muslim mob amidst anti-Hindu violence in Murshidabad

Case ID : ea3485e | Location : Murshidabad, West Bengal, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 10 April, 2025

Case ID : ea3485e

Murshidabad, West Bengal, India

10 April, 2025

Shop run be Hindu specifically targeted and vandalised by Muslim mob amidst anti-Hindu violence in Murshidabad

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Attacked to induce migration from non-Hindu dominated area

Communal clash/attack

Case Summary

Amidst the wave of anti-Hindu violence unleashed by Muslim mobs in Murshidabad under the guise of protesting the newly enacted Waqf Amendment Act, one of the targeted Hindu establishments was the shop owned by Narayan Saha. The establishment was vandalised and looted by the mob that has been spreading terror across the district. Expressing his anguish over the ordeal, the distraught victim said, “I do not know what to say or do. There is no safety or security here,” capturing the fear and helplessness that Hindus in the area are being forced to endure. Narayan Saha's account substantiates the communal nature of the violence Islamists have unleashed in West Bengal's Murshidabad district. On 11th April, 2025, Murshidabad district in West Bengal, which has a significant Muslim population, witnessed widespread violence, vandalism, arson, and targeted assaults against the Hindu community, all under the pretext of protests against the newly enacted Waqf Amendment Act. Following the conclusion of Jumma Namaz, mobs went on a rampage in the Suti and Samserganj areas, disrupting train services, damaging public infrastructure, and bringing normal life to a standstill. The office of the Block Development Officer (BDO) was vandalised with stones and sticks, creating an atmosphere of chaos and fear. However, what stands out is the deliberate and systematic targeting of the Hindu community under the guise of these protests. Local reports also suggested that Hindu temples were attacked and idols desecrated. Hundreds of Hindus have been compelled to flee their homes in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district in the wake of an Islamic onslaught carried out under the pretext of protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2025, an outbreak of violence that has already claimed three lives.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category- Attack not resulting in death. The sub-category relevant in this case 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. The other sub-category selected is- Communal clash/ attack. Communal clash is a form of collective violence that involves clashes between groups belonging to different religious identities. For a communal clash between Hindus and non-Hindus to qualify as a religiously motivated hate crime, the trigger of the violence itself would have to be anti-Hindu in essence. For example, if there is a Hindu religious procession that comes under attack from a non-Hindu mob and after the initial attack, Hindus retaliate in self-defence, leading to a communal clash between the two religious communities. While at a later stage, both communities are involved in the clash/violence, the initial trigger of the violence was by the non-Hindu mob against the Hindus and therefore, it could safely be termed as an anti-Hindu violence. Further, the trigger would also have to be religiously motivated. In the cited example, the attack by the non-Hindu mob was against religious processions and therefore, can be concluded to be religiously motivated. In some cases, the trigger may be non-religious, however, it develops into religious violence against Hindus at a later stage. In such cases too, the foundational animosity towards Hindus becomes the motivating factor of the crime and therefore, it would be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus under this category. The third sub-category relevant here is- Attacked to induce migration from non-Hindu dominated area. There have been cases where the Hindus living in an area, often with a majority dwelling belonging to non-Hindus or those harbouring animosity towards the Hindu faith, the Hindu residents experience threats and violence. The violence is employed with the aim of making the Hindus leave the area and relocate, so the area could be turned into an exclusive ghetto for adherents of the non-Hindu faith or those who harbor animosity towards the Hindu faith. In several cases, the aim of exodus is explicit. However, in several cases, the demand for exodus of Hindu residents is not explicit, however, violence by non-Hindu residents leaves the Hindu residents no option but to leave the area, thereby, turning the area into an exclusive ghetto of non-Hindu residents. In such cases, there are instances violence against the Hindu residents explicitly. For example, in the Hauz Qazi case of 2019, the Muslim residents claimed that mob violence against the Hindu residents had been triggered by a parking dispute. However, the violence did turn religious with a temple being desecrated and was directed specifically against the Hindu residents. The Hindu residents of the area were clear that the violence was religiously motivated and one of the motives was to affect an exodus of the Hindu residents. In such cases, even though the perpetrators have not explicitly expressed the aim of affecting exodus, the given circumstances and violence and precedent point to the intention of exodus and therefore would be categorized under this sub-category. Such crimes are religiously motivated and therefore are hate crimes. The attack on the shop owned by Narayan Saha during the widespread violence in Murshidabad constitutes a hate crime as the attack was not provoked by any action on the part of the victim but occurred within a broader context where the Hindu community was deliberately and systematically targeted. The shop was vandalised and looted purely because it belonged to a Hindu trader, with no indication that the victim had engaged in any behaviour that could have incited such violence. The incident thus reflects religious animosity directed at Hindus and constitutes a religiously motivated hate crime. The violence was not mutual but began with aggression directed at Hindus following Jumma Namaz. The overarching trigger, the protest against the Waqf Amendment Act, was used as a pretext for violence that clearly targeted one community. Given that other incidents during this episode involved attacks on Hindu homes, temples, and symbols, the assault on Narayan Saha’s shop was part of a larger pattern of anti-Hindu aggression. This pattern indicates not just communal unrest, but a planned effort to intimidate and marginalise the Hindu population in the region, thereby fulfilling the criteria of a religiously motivated hate crime.