Hindu devotee shot, throat slit and face crushed with stones during anti-Hindu violence in Nuh, Haryana

Case ID : fdf2e9c | Location : Nuh, Haryana, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 30 July, 2023

Case ID : fdf2e9c

Nuh, Haryana, India

30 July, 2023

Hindu devotee shot, throat slit and face crushed with stones during anti-Hindu violence in Nuh, Haryana

Attack resulting in death

Attack against Hindu devotees

Attack on religious procession

Attacked for crossing 'Muslim area'

Case Summary

On July 31, 2023, violence erupted in Haryana's Nuh region during a Jal Abhishek yatra organized by Hindus. Bajrang Dal activist Abhishek Rajput was fatally shot, and his body was subjected to violence reminiscent of terror groups like the Taliban. Abhishek, who had come from Panipat to offer water to the Nalhad temple, was attacked by a Muslim mob. His throat was slit after being shot, and his head was crushed with stones.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

Hindu devotees are a few of the easiest targets of religiously motivated hate crimes because during the festival/procession/puja etc, for non-Hindus it is easy to profile their victims on the basis of religion. Hindu devotees come under attack on several occasions by individual non-Hindus or mobs of non-Hindus owing to their animosity against Hinduism, its symbols, and traditions/practices. There are several instances of Hindu devotees being attacked while they worship in temples or temporary religious structures, during religious processions, doing bhajan/kirtan/puja in their own homes, in the residential society, etc. These attacks are perpetrated by non-Hindus primarily because of their animosity towards Hindus and their faith. In some cases, the trigger for the violence may be non-religious, however, there are two elements that make these hate crimes. First, the Hindus who come under attack are attacked violently while indulging in religious activity. Whether they are in a place of worship or not is immaterial to the crime. When individuals are attacked while indulging in religious practices, the attack in itself is a hindrance to their freedom to practice religion and therefore constitutes a hate crime. Secondly, religious supremacist doctrines and ideologies deem the religious practices of Hindus to be offensive ab initio since they are considered “sinful” by these ideologies, worthy to be annihilated by force or coercion. Driven by these religious supremacist ideologies and doctrines, the attacks against Hindu devotees stem from intrinsic animosity towards Hinduism. In some cases, the trigger for the violence may be non-religious, however, it develops into a religiously motivated crime during the course of the violence. Since these attacks stem from animosity towards Hindus and Hinduism, they are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. In this case too, it was easy to target the Hindus because they were all Hindu devotees participating in a religious procession, therefore, it is a hate crime on this count since they were targeted specifically because they were devotees on a religious procession. Apart from their identity of being Hindus and specifically, Hindu devotees being the trigger of the violence, a Hindu religious procession crossing through an area which has a dominant Muslim population is also a trigger of the violence by the Islamist mob. 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. These attacks and the deaths due to the attacks emanate from intrinsic and doctrinal animosity towards Hindus and Hinduism. Further, one of the reasons that Hindus get attacked unprovoked specifically by Islamists is them 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, signaling that Hindus displaying religious symbols, taking out religious processions, or crossing any area that 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. In this case, there was no provocation of violence other than the fact that easily identifiable Hindu devotees were participating in a religious procession in an area which has a large Muslim population. The presence of Hindu devotees and the religious procession crossing an area in itself was considered a "provocation" by the Muslim mob. Such violence emenates from intrindic animosity towards Hindus and therefore, it is classified as a religiously motivated hate crime.