The aim of the hate crime database is to create a repository of authentic hate crimes committed against Hindus. A Hate Crime essentially has two important ingredients – an underlying offence which has been committed coupled with a bias. A hate crime is supposed to have taken place when the perpetrator intentionally targets an individual or a property owing to his/her bias against a certain characteristic of that individual or his/her hatred towards that characteristic.
While these characteristics could be many, for example, race, colour, regional identity, sexual orientation etc, for the purpose of the hate crime database, we decided to consider only religious identity and the faith professed by the victim (specifically the Hindu faith) as a characteristic underlying the motivation of the crime against him/her.
Essentially, a hate crime requires a base offence to have been committed. In other words, the act committed should constitute an offence against the individual or group of people. The second component of a hate crime is the motivation of the crime – implicit or explicit. It is the presence of the bias motive that separates a hate crime from other crimes – even if the severity of the crime is more or less.
A religiously motivated attack against a Hindu would be considered a hate crime when the underlying motive of the crime (explicit or implicit) is driven by the Hindu identity (actual or perceived) of the victim. This would include the targeting of persons or property associated with Hindu people or communities.
All the categories that hate crimes have been divided into for the purpose of this database have been meticulously defined to ensure that authentic cases, with specific religious angles, are added to the database. The parameters for the cases being added to the database have been kept extremely stringent for the purpose of authenticity. There are cases where questions could potentially be raised on the religious motive of the crime which have not been added to the database. Such cases, where the religious motivation of the crime could be called into question or those cases where there are strong suspicions of the crime being a religiously motivated one but from the available information, it cannot be conclusively determined if the crime was religiously motivated, have been added to the “undecided” category.
These cases would not be reflected in the hate crime database to ensure the authenticity of the database. These cases would appear in a separate database. In the future, if information confirming the religious motivations of these crimes emerges, the case will be added to the hate crime database.
Examples of cases added to the ‘undecided’ database
For example, in June 2024, in Rampur district, Uttar Pradesh, madrasa students vandalised an idol of Lord Hanuman in Ramayana Park. The incident occurred in the Civil Lines area near Panwaria, where several idols of Hindu gods are installed. The Hanuman idol’s leg was broken by the students while playing. Hindu locals spotted and chased the students, leading to a gathering of both Hindu and Muslim residents. City MLA Akash Saxena and law enforcement officials, including Additional Superintendent of Police Atul Kumar Srivastava, visited the scene to prevent further confrontation. The MLA blamed the Rampur Development Authority for not preserving the idols, as the park was built four years ago without measures to protect these religious symbols.
In this case, it is a fact that Muslim students vandalised the Murtis of Lord Hanuman, which holds great religious significance for Hindus. However, from the facts available in the case, it is entirely possible that the Muslim kids had no religious motives to vandalise the murtis and the murtis got damaged in the process of the children playing. It is also entirely possible that the crime was a religiously motivated hate crime, however, from the available information, one cannot assert without doubt that the motivation of the vandalization was religious animosity towards Hindus and their faith.
In another case, On June 9 2024, in the village of Boliyaru in Karnataka’s Mangaluru, two BJP workers, Harish Anchan (41) and Nandakumar (24), were brutally stabbed by a group of 20-30 unidentified Muslims. The attack occurred during celebrations of Prime Minister Modi’s third consecutive election victory. As BJP workers celebrated and raised slogans near a local masjid, it reportedly angered the local Muslims, who followed the BJP workers on bikes and blocked their path. An altercation ensued, leading to the assault and stabbing of Harish and Nandakumar. Krishna Kumar, another BJP worker, was also assaulted. The attackers pulled off the saffron scarves and clothes of the BJP workers. The victims were hospitalised, with one in critical condition. The Mangaluru Police filed an FIR based on Krishna Kumar’s complaint and are investigating the incident, including reviewing CCTV footage.
In this case, there is a strong suspicion that the crime was driven by religious animosity against Hindus. First and foremost, the fact that slogans were being raised and the victims were celebrating PM Modi’s win in front of a mosque, irked the Muslims. Further, PM Modi is widely seen by radical Islamists as a political leader who specifically practises Hinduism and openly espouses Hindutva principles. However, it is difficult to conclude that the crime was religiously motivated since there is no indication of the religious motive specifically. It can be argued that the Muslim mob would have been equally enraged had some Muslim supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated his victory. Further, it can also be argued that it could have been political rivalry, rather than religious animosity, which led to the crime.
As such, the details of the case do raise strong suspicions about the religious motivations. Some may argue that the religious motivations are obvious given the realities of India and a precedent of Islamists attacking those associated with organisations – political or otherwise – viewed as pro-Hindu. Further, the fact that the saffron scarf was pulled by the attackers could be argued as a sign that this was motivated by religious animosity since saffron is largely viewed as a symbol of Hindutva. On the other hand, however, there could also be suspicions raised that the scarf itself is not a religious symbol and it could have been pulled because it was a BJP scarf.
When in such cases, the religious motivation underlying the crime can come under suspicion, even if there are suspicions favouring the addition of adding the incident to the hate crime database, it is documented under the ‘undecided’ category, to be revisited if more information emerges.
