Dalit Hindu family's land seized by Muslims; harassed and threatened with death for resisting
Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India 
27 February, 2025
Case Summary
In Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu Dalit family has put up a poster to sell their house and vacate the area due to persistent harassment and death threats from local Muslims, who have unlawfully seized land belonging to these impoverished and vulnerable Hindus. One of the Hindu victims recounted how some local Muslims had encroached upon their land, issued death threats, and continuously harassed their Dalit family. Exhausted by the relentless persecution, the family decided to put up posters advertising the sale of their home in order to leave the area. An X account named ‘TheTreeni’ shared a video featuring Dalit Hindu women from the victim’s family, stating that Muslims had threatened them and taken their land. Expressing their fears, the victim revealed that the locality is predominantly Muslim, with only three Hindu families residing there. The accused are influential and wealthy individuals, leaving the victims powerless to challenge them. This imbalance of power has also resulted in the police failing to provide them with any support. Consequently, they have no option but to leave the area. A poster visible behind the victim names the accused individuals. Written in Hindi, it roughly translates to: Village Veerpur Variyar, also known as Khark. People from the Balmiki community in the village are being forced to flee due to oppression by notorious figures such as Muhafiya, Nizam Hussain, Nayab Hussain, Sayab Hussain, Talib Ali, Arif Ali, Nizam Qasar Haji Mubavvar Ali, Mushtaq Ali, Istar Ali, Jamal Hussain, and other dominant individuals.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
Due to the multiple religious markers in this case, it has been added to the tracker under two prime categories. The first is- Attack not resulting in death, and within this, the sub-category selected 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. 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 second category selected here is- Hate speech against Hindus. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Violent threats. Violent threats, explicit, implicit or implied, is the most dangerous form of hate speech since it goes beyond discriminatory and prejudicial language to express the intent of causing harm to an individual or a group of people based on their religious identity and faith. There could be several different kinds of threats that are issued to Hindus based on religious animosity. An explicit threat would mean the direct threat of violence towards an individual Hindu, a group of Hindus or Hindus at large. Physical violence, death threats, threats of destruction of property belonging to Hindus and threats of genocide would mean explicit threats against Hindus for their religious identity. Implicit threats may not be a direct threat but implied through the use of symbols of actions – for example – in the Nupur Sharma case, other than explicit threats, there were also implicit threats when Islamists took to the streets to burn and beat her effigies. It implies that they want to do the same to Nupur Sharma – thereby is considered an implicit threat. Violent threats can be delivered in person, through letters, phone calls, graffiti, or increasingly through social media and other online platforms. It would be important to understand that a threat – explicit or implicit, online or offline – to an individual who happens to be a Hindu does not qualify as a religiously motivated threat. Such a threat, while vile and dangerous, could be owing to non-religious reasons and/or personal animosity. To qualify as a religiously motivated threat, it would need to exhibit an indication that the individual is being targeted for religious reasons and/or owing to his/her religious identity as a Hindu. This case is a clear example of religiously motivated hatred against Hindus, as evidenced by the deliberate targeting of a vulnerable Dalit Hindu family in a Muslim-majority area. The family's land was reportedly encroached upon by local Muslims, and when they resisted, they were subjected to persistent harassment and direct death threats. This systematic intimidation was not merely an act of personal dispute or land grabbing; rather, it was driven by a deeper religious bias aimed at making the area uninhabitable for Hindus. The fact that only three Hindu families remain in the locality, while the perpetrators are described as powerful and influential, underscores the religious nature of the oppression. Given these factors, the case has been categorised under Attack Not Resulting in Death, with the sub-category Attacked to Induce Migration from a Non-Hindu Dominated Area. The relentless threats and coercion made it impossible for the family to continue living in their own home, forcing them to publicly declare their intention to flee. Such forced migration is a known tactic used to establish religious dominance by driving out Hindus from areas where they are already a minority. Furthermore, the case also falls under the sub-category- Attacked for Hindu Identity, as the persecution was explicitly tied to the family's religious background. The perpetrators did not merely seek to take over their land; they ensured that the victims were terrorised to the extent that they had no choice but to leave. The lack of police support further exposes the bias and power imbalance, where the persecutors, due to their influence and numbers, were able to act with impunity. This case is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of religious intimidation and demographic aggression against Hindus in certain regions. The explicit threats, the systematic harassment, and the family's eventual decision to flee all point towards a calculated effort to eliminate the Hindu presence in the area, making this a stark instance of religiously motivated hate.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 5 to 10
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
