New Delhi: Communal riots in India rose by 84% in 2024 with the Muslim population being the biggest target. In a report titled Hegemony and Demolitions: The Tale of Communal Riots in India in 2024, the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS) revealed that as many as 59 cases of communal riots were reported last year, a significant rise compared to 32 riots in 2023.
A total of 13 deaths were reported in these incidents – 10 Muslims and 3 Hindus. Maharashtra emerged as the epicenter of the conflicts with 12 out of 59 riots in the state, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Bihar reporting seven each.
“This increase in the number of communal riots belies the narrative of the state that India is free from communal riots as there are no communal tensions and the state has maintained communal harmony,” the report stated.
State-wise number of communal riots in 2024. Source: CSSS
The CSSS’s monitoring is based on reports from Mumbai editions of five leading newspapers –The Hindu, The Times of India, The Indian Express, Shahafat and The Inquilab. The report is authored by human rights activists Irfan Engineer, Neha Dabhade and Mithila Raut.
Citing its reason for choosing newspapers instead of government data for the research, the CSSS team states, “The Ministry of Home Affairs and National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) maintains comprehensive records of communal riots in India but has stopped publishing its data regularly.”
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According to the report, the incidents were largely triggered during religious festivals and processions, accounting for 26 of the 59 cases. This highlights how religious celebrations are increasingly being used to fuel communal tensions and political mobilisation.
These included four riots during the Pran Pratishthan ceremony at Ram Mandir in Ayodhya in January, seven during Saraswati Puja idol immersions in February, four during Ganesh festivals and two during Bakri Eid.
Meanwhile, there were six communal riots over the issue of contested places of worship, mainly triggered by the state and right-wing fringe groups alleging that mosques and dargahs were illegal or that they were built on Hindu places of worship, as per the report. Five communal riots took place due to desecration of places of worship.
Triggers for communal riots in 2024. Source: CSSS
It is worthy to note that 49 out of 59 cases of communal riots took place in states where the BJP is ruling either on its own, or in coalition with other parties. Meanwhile, seven took place in the states ruled by the Congress and three in West Bengal, which is ruled by Trinamool Congress.
The report also stated that there is a rise in communal riots in rural areas. “It is noteworthy that until a decade back, the communal riots took place mostly in urban areas. However, in the last few years as in 2024, communal riots have spread to rural areas – villages and towns,” it said.
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On hate speech and mob lynching
In addition to the riots, 13 mob lynching incidents were reported in 2024, resulting in 11 deaths – one Hindu, one Christian and nine Muslims. “While this marks a decline from the 21 incidents of mob lynching recorded in 2023, the continued occurrence of such attacks remains a serious concern,” the CSSS said.
Seven of these incidents were linked to cow vigilantism or accusations of cow slaughter, while other cases were over allegations of ‘love jihad’ and assaults targeting Muslims for their religious identity.
The report also highlighted that the spike in the number of communal riots in 2024 can partly be attributed to the general elections that were held in April/May, as well as the assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand, where “hate speeches with communal overtures were used to polarize communities on religious basis”.
