News Analysis |
According to human rights advocacy group Amnesty International, in the first six months of 2018, 100 hate crimes have been committed against people from marginalized groups including Dalit’s, Adivasis, members of racial or religious minority groups and transgender people across the country. Uttar Pradesh, with 18 such crimes, had the highest number among Indian states, followed by Gujarat with 13 cases, Rajasthan (eight) and Tamil Nadu and Bihar with seven cases each.
The report comes during the ongoing investigation into a lynching in Hapur, where a local man named Mohammad Qasim was assaulted by a mob over suspicion of cow slaughter in June. The lone survivor, 62-year-old Samaydeen has contested the initial police claim that the lynching was triggered by road rage instead of cow slaughter rumors.
There has been a conscious attempt to divorce Islam and Muslims from the national ethos. It is through such perception management that often Hindutva militants get away with horrific atrocities and eventually are hailed as “guardians” of Indian Hindus.
The human rights’ group began documenting hate crimes in the country after Mohammad Akhlaq was killed in Dadri, UP for allegedly storing beef at home in September 2015. Since then, 603 hate crimes have been recorded in an interactive website, ‘Halt the Hate’, run by Amnesty. The Amnesty report stated that in the first six months of 2018, a total of 67 hate crimes against Dalit’s and 22 against Muslims were recorded across the country.
Cow-related violence and honor killings were among the most common causes of the hate crimes, according to data compiled by Amnesty. In UP, the western part of the state has been the epicenter of such incidents, with violence triggered on caste and religious fault lines.
Read more: Will Hate Crimes in Trump’s America hinder US-India Relations?
In 2018, India Media has already reported on six hate crimes against Dalit’s in Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur and Bulandshahr. In Meerut’s Shobhapur village, a Dalit youth was allegedly shot dead by Gujjars in the aftermath of violence during the Dalit agitation on April 2. The incident escalated tension between the two communities.
In Baghpat, a Dalit youth was allegedly brutally assaulted by Gujjars after a panchayat ordered action against the former’s community to avenge elopement of a Gujjar girl with a Dalit youth in May. A few days later, the youth died at a medical facility in Meerut. Recently, a 44-year-old man was summoned by a local panchayat in Bulandshahr’s Sonda Habibpur village. He was assaulted and forced to lick his own spit after his son married a woman from another community.
The report comes during the ongoing investigation into a lynching in Hapur, where a local man named Mohammad Qasim was assaulted by a mob over suspicion of cow slaughter in June.
“Hate crimes are different from other crimes because there is an underlying discriminatory motive behind the former. However, the law – with some exceptions – does not recognize hate crimes as separate offences. This means that even today, the extent of hate crime in India is unknown. Police need to unmask any potentially discriminatory motives during investigation and duly record them,” said Aakar Patel, executive director, Amnesty International India.
Read more: Indian leaders’ rhetoric reflect Anti-Muslim atmosphere
Hindutva has become a major engine of violence in India with its targets being mostly minorities such as Muslims or Dalit’s. With the rise of the Hindutva fundamentalist BJP to power in 2014, Hindutva militants have become prominent in most parts of India. These brutal militants have enacted savage murders of mainly Muslims on various reasons such as “Gau Raksha” (Cow protection) and “Love Jihad”.
In Baghpat, a Dalit youth was allegedly brutally assaulted by Gujjars after a panchayat ordered action against the former’s community to avenge elopement of a Gujjar girl with a Dalit youth in May.
In April, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Indian authorities to prosecute those who violently prevent cattle from being slaughtered, noting that Muslims are often targets of attacks. “The government should condemn this violence and take prompt action against those responsible for these attacks or face allegations of complicity,” HRW’s South Asia Director Meenakshi Ganguly said at the time.
Read more: 1000s of pictures prove India commits war crimes in Kashmir
The lynching of minorities in north India has been marked by silence from the Bharatiya Janata Party, the party that rules all the northern states except Punjab and Delhi. In fact, there has been a conscious attempt to divorce Islam and Muslims from the national ethos. It is through such perception management that often Hindutva militants get away with horrific atrocities and eventually are hailed as “guardians” of Indian Hindus.
As of now, the issue of intercommunity relations has morphed into a debate between those who wish to impose the RSS (parent organization of the BJP) brand of Hindutva on the rest of India and those who resist it. It harkens back to the debate over intolerance which erupted after the Dadri lynching, in which Hindutva was pitted against those wanting a more pluralistic India as well as Indian minorities, mainly Muslims.