Watch | 39 Assaults, 19 Acts of Vandalism, 42 Incidents of Harassment Against Muslims Since Pahalgam: Report
New Delhi: A report by the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) reveals that in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, a total of 184 anti-Muslim hate incidents took place in India – starting from April 11 till May 8.
The report states that in at least 106 of these incidents, the Pahalgam attack – in which 26 civilians were killed – allegedly acted as a triggering factor. In these incidents, 316 people have been affected either physically or psychologically.
According to the APCR report, these incidents were neither random nor isolated. At a time when unity and solidarity were the need of the hour, the nation witnessed increased communal polarisation.
The most number of these incidents are reported to be from Uttar Pradesh, where 43 such incidents took place, followed by Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh.
In Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh, a 15-year-old Muslim boy was assaulted by a group of men while on his way back from school. He was also forced to urinate on a Pakistani flag.
An FIR was later registered against Raju, a book shop owner; Nitin, a grocery shop owner; and an unidentified man under various sections of Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, including rioting, voluntarily causing hurt, provoking breach of peace and criminal intimidation.
In another incident in Bhopal on April 26, Railway Head Constable Nazar Daulat Khan was brutally thrashed by a group of intoxicated Hindu youths.
According to reports, the police officer was on patrol around 2 am when he noticed a group of young men consuming alcohol inside a parked car on the station premises. When he approached the group and asked them to leave, the situation quickly turned violent. The attackers, after noticing Khan’s Muslim name, allegedly hurled verbal abuses at him, targeting his religious identity. The confrontation escalated with the group physically attacking Khan, punching him, and tearing his uniform.
Several Kashmir students were also targeted and assaulted in their hostels in Chandigarh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. In Dehradun, Hindu Raksha Dal and other right-wing elements have allegedly issued written threats to several colleges, demanding the expulsion of Kashmiri Muslim students and setting a chilling ultimatum.
Footage of other incidents of Kashmiri Muslim vendors getting attacked also surfaced on social media. One such incident happened in Mussoorie, where two Kashmir shawl vendors were heckled by members of the Bajrang Dal. In another incident in Mussoorie itself, a group of Kashmiri shawl vendors were asked to vacate overnight, leaving goods worth Rs 12 lakhs.
Several acts of vandalism targeting property owned and managed by Muslims occurred across the country. These involved the destruction of madrasas, and Muslim-owned shops, carts and stalls. A Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Balmukund Acharya vandalised a mosque in Rajasthan during a rally, while another mosque in Uttarakhand was attacked with stones by Hindutva groups.
In Kashmir, houses of suspected militants were demolished, in violation of the Supreme Court guidelines.
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