India: Violence — Lynchings, Riots, Hate Speech and Impunity

Summary

Trackers report 44 Muslims killed in 2026 and over 3,000 properties demolished, while 1,318 hate speech events were logged in 2025 and courts upheld acquittals in older killings.

What it argues

1. Modi's 'Infiltrator' Pitch

   Modi told a Jharkhand rally on 15 September 2024 that 'infiltrators' held panchayat posts. He said Bangladeshis and Rohingya marry Adivasi women to gain land and power. He accused the JMM of a vote bank; SabrangIndia says independent media repeatedly debunked the claim. The speech framed Muslims as outsiders in a tribal region before elections.

2. Barring New Muslim Voters

   Shingnapur Gram Panchayat in Kolhapur resolved to strike new Muslim voters from the rolls. Muslim groups called it unconstitutional and sought criminal cases against panchayat officials. The panchayat apologised, saying the resolution concerned two women with fake identification. Local bodies invoked alleged illegal immigration to justify disenfranchisement.

3. Bulldozers After Jahazpur Clashes

   Clashes broke out during a Hindu procession in Bhilwara's Jahazpur; local Muslims said it was provoked. BJP MLA Gopi Chand Meena demanded bulldozers; over 20 Muslims were arrested and shops demolished. The municipality gave the Jama Masjid committee 24 hours to prove land ownership. Shops were razed and a mosque put on notice within a day of the clashes.

4. Mosque Stoned Before Eid

   Five VHP-linked activists were arrested for stoning the Badriya Mosque in Katipalla, Mangaluru, before Eid-e-Milad. Cases were filed against VHP's Sharan Pumpwell and Bajrang Dal's Puneeth Attavar over provocative social media posts. In Chhatarpur, Eid Miladun Nabi celebrations were cancelled amid arrests and demolitions after August clashes. The festival period brought attacks on mosques and pre-emptive cancellations.

5. Claims On Muslim Places Of Worship

   A Hindu Mahasabha convener tried to 'purify' the Taj Mahal with cow dung and Ganga water, calling it a temple. Security stopped him; he vowed to take the claim to court. In 2025, 276 speeches urged removing or destroying mosques, shrines and churches, often targeting Gyanvapi and Shahi Idgah. Hindutva claims on existing Muslim sites keep producing confrontation and demolition demands.

6. Demolitions Without Due Process

   More than 3,000 Muslim homes, businesses and places of worship were demolished with bulldozers since January 2026. At least 23 religious structures were razed in under two months across six states. The Supreme Court declined to enforce its own demolition safeguards, remitting contempt petitions to High Courts. Officials cite illegal construction, but the tracker alleges arbitrary action without legal procedure.

7. 44 Killed In Eight Months

   At least 44 Muslims were killed in hate-related violence in 2026 by mid-August. Nineteen deaths were attributed to state forces, 25 to extremist Hindu groups. The tracker warns 2026 may be the deadliest year since 2022; victims include children aged 11 and 16. The toll is counted from both state agencies and Hindu extremist groups.

8. Encounters, Custody And Detention

   The tracker reports alleged fake encounters, custodial deaths and forced expulsions in Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Kashmir and West Bengal. Security forces in Kashmir detained over 2,500 people within 48 hours of a July militant attack. Police in at least six states selectively arrested Muslims during nationwide student protests, reporting says. Coercion extends beyond killings to mass detention and expulsion.

9. Impunity For Past Violence

   Courts upheld the acquittal of all 22 accused, 21 of them police, in a 2005 staged-encounter triple killing. They also upheld the acquittal of five men accused of burning a Muslim man alive in 2002. Public calls for genocide at a gathering near Delhi reportedly drew no police action; 14 were convicted in a rare cow-protection case. Convictions are rare, and higher courts have confirmed acquittals in older killings.

10. Hate Speech At Record High

    1,318 in-person hate speech events were recorded across 21 states and Delhi in 2025. That is up 13 percent from 2024 and 97 percent from 2023's 668 incidents. Eighty-eight percent occurred in BJP-ruled, NDA-governed or BJP-administered jurisdictions; five states accounted for 65 percent. Organised anti-minority speech is concentrated where the ruling party holds power.

11. Conspiracy Theories And Dehumanising Language

    656 speeches invoked 'love jihad', 'land jihad' and 'population jihad'. 308 contained explicit calls for violence, 136 of them calls for arms. 141 used dehumanising terms such as 'termites', 'parasites' and 'green snakes'; 120 urged boycotts. Content escalates from conspiracy claims to arms and eliminationist language.

12. Organisers And Social Media

    The VHP and Bajrang Dal were linked to 289 events, 22 percent of the total; the Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad to 138. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami gave 71 speeches, Pravin Togadia 46 and Ashwini Upadhyay 35. 1,278 events were first shared on social media, 942 of them on Facebook. Speeches by ministers, monks and Hindu nationalist groups spread first online.

13. A Sustained, Decentralised Strategy

    Researcher Eviane Leidig says hate speech stayed elevated through 2025 instead of tapering outside election cycles. Raqib Hameed Naik says the BJP's 2024 polarisation strategy failed to deliver the decisive mandate it expected. He describes a shift to ground-level rallies and processions aimed at state elections and 2029. The argument: mobilisation is now continuous rather than reactive to elections.

14. Violence After West Bengal's Result

    Communal mob violence was reported in five states, most severely in West Bengal after the BJP's first state election win. Attacks on mosques and Muslim-owned businesses there killed at least two people. One of those killed was protecting a mosque. A change of government was followed by attacks on Muslim religious and commercial sites.

15. West Bengal's Measures Against Muslims

    Police were told to hand alleged 'infiltrators' to border forces without court proceedings; 4,800 'deportations' were reported in the first month. Citizenship verification became mandatory for rations and women's financial aid; 77 Muslim communities lost reservation eligibility. Minority-affairs and madrasa budgets were cut 62 percent; cattle slaughter restrictions disrupted the rural economy. Administrative rules, budgets and benefits were reshaped along religious lines.

16. Expulsions And A New Legal Order

    Assam's chief minister reported 1,679 people 'pushed back' over two years; Human Rights Watch documented night expulsions of families including children. Assam and Madhya Pradesh enacted Uniform Civil Codes overriding Muslim personal law. Parliament criminalised 'insulting' the song Vande Mataram. The tracker says the legal framework affecting Muslim rights has expanded.

17. UN Experts Warn On Rhetoric

    UN Special Rapporteurs warned that rhetoric around 'infiltrators' risks conflating Indian Muslim citizens with foreign nationals. They said it could amount to incitement to discrimination under international law. UN bodies also raised the crackdown on protesters, mass voter-roll deletions and treatment of minorities. International scrutiny focuses on official speech and the failure to act against hate speech.