Hindu outfit member attacked for his religious identity, Muslim youths ask his name before stabbing him

Case ID : f664a5e | Location : Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 30 March, 2025

Case ID : f664a5e

Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India

30 March, 2025

Hindu outfit member attacked for his religious identity, Muslim youths ask his name before stabbing him

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

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

Case Summary

In Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) worker was brutally attacked by a group of Muslims after he attempted to stop them from drinking alcohol in public on Eid. The incident occurred in Salgawan village, under Chharra police station. The victim, Vikas Singh, was returning home from work when he saw three to four individuals consuming alcohol near the village. When he objected to them drinking in a public place, one of the men, Aman, asked for his name. Upon learning that Vikas was Hindu, Aman incited his accomplices, Farhat and Arbaaz, to attack him. “He is a Hindu, beat him!”, Aman told his aides before they stabbed Vikas multiple times, leaving him seriously injured. Vikas managed to escape and was later taken to the hospital for treatment. An FIR was registered at Chharra police station, and the two main accused were arrested. Chharra police station CO Dhananjay Kumar confirmed that legal action was being pursued, with the accused being sent to jail. VHP’s Brij Pradesh media in-charge, Pratik Raghuvanshi, stated that the attackers knew Vikas beforehand and deliberately targeted him for intervening. He demanded strict action against the perpetrators and warned that the VHP would take to the streets if justice was not served.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Attack not resulting in death. Under this, the sub-category 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. The second sub-category selected 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, the attack on Vikas Singh is a clear instance of a religiously motivated hate crime, as he was not merely assaulted over an altercation but was specifically targeted for being a Hindu. The assailants, upon learning his religious identity, deliberately escalated the violence, with Aman explicitly pointing out his Hindu name before inciting the attack. "He is a Hindu, beat him". This statement indicates that the assault was not just a reaction to his objection to public drinking but was fueled by religious hostility. The brutal stabbing of Vikas, rather than a mere physical altercation, demonstrates an intent to inflict grievous harm, further underlining the religiously charged nature of the crime. Such attacks, where individuals are singled out based on their faith and subjected to extreme violence, fit the definition of a hate crime and warrant inclusion in the Hate Crime Database. The victim’s affiliation with a Hindu organisation also suggests that the attack may have had a broader ideological motive, as Hindu activists have frequently been targeted for their religious and social advocacy.