At least 25 Muslims have been killed in India over the past three months due to hate campaigns and hostility. They lost their lives between May and July of this year, either at the hands of law enforcement agencies or through mob lynchings by Hindu hardliners supporting the BJP.
Fifteen of the victims were killed by state law enforcement agencies, including the police, while the remaining ten were killed by Hindu extremists. Meanwhile, the total number of Muslims killed in hate crimes over the last seven months has exceeded 44. During this same period, more than 3,000 Muslim homes and religious structures were destroyed.
These figures were released by ‘South Asia Justice,’ an organization dedicated to the rights of minority communities in the region. The data regarding state-sponsored persecution of Muslims across various Indian states was gathered through the organization’s project, ‘India Persecution Tracker.’ The findings indicate that the situation regarding the persecution of Muslims is most severe in West Bengal.
‘India Persecution Tracker’ has been collecting data on killings resulting from hate campaigns against Muslims in India since 2022. The current year has seen the highest number of such killings, making it a particularly deadly year for Muslims in the country.
The organization reported that 44 Muslims were killed in hate crimes during the first seven months of this year. Of these, 19 were killed by law enforcement agencies, while 25 were killed in mob lynchings by Hindu extremists. Those killed by law enforcement died either in staged encounters or while in security custody.
In many instances, victims receive no assistance even when seeking protection from attacks by Hindu extremists. Law enforcement agencies have detained hundreds of Muslims during this period. Many homes, mosques, and other religious institutions have been demolished using bulldozers. Sudden night-time raids—conducted without prior warning or notice—have forced many to flee their homes with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Such incidents have occurred with increasing frequency, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, Assam, and Kashmir, as well as in West Bengal following the BJP’s recent electoral victory. According to the report, at least 23 Muslim religious structures were demolished across six states in less than two months. Meanwhile, in at least 21 separate incidents of demolition across eight states, over a thousand Muslim homes, businesses, and religious structures were razed. Consequently, the total number of such demolished structures has exceeded 3,000 so far this year.
The report further notes that the Supreme Court declined to invoke its own safeguards against demolitions, instead referring contempt-of-court petitions to the High Courts.
In Kashmir, security forces detained over 2,500 Muslims within 48 hours of an attack in July. During this operation, they used explosives to demolish the homes of two families. Separately, allegations have surfaced that police selectively arrested Muslims in at least six states during nationwide student protests.
Between May and July of this year, 25 Muslims were killed across five states—Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Kashmir, West Bengal, and Maharashtra—in incidents involving staged police encounters, deaths in security custody, and attacks by extremists. The victims included an 11-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy.
Reports of communal violence targeting Muslims emerged from five states, with the situation being particularly severe in West Bengal. In the days following the BJP’s maiden state election victory there, at least two people were killed in attacks on mosques, Muslim-owned businesses, and hawker settlements; one victim lost his life while attempting to protect a mosque.
The new government also implemented measures specifically targeting Muslims, including linking public welfare benefits to citizenship verification, altering reservation quotas, slashing budgets for minority affairs and madrasas by 62 percent, and imposing strict restrictions on animal slaughter. The government imposed a strict ban on animal slaughter just days before Eid-ul-Azha. During a crackdown amidst student protests in West Bengal, 13 of the 14 individuals arrested were Muslims.
The West Bengal government instructed the police to hand over alleged “infiltrators” to the border security forces instead of producing them before a court. Meanwhile, the government claimed to have ‘deported’ 4,800 people within its first month. Seventy-seven Muslim communities were removed from the reservation list for backward classes, and madrasas were brought under surveillance.
Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam are being subjected to ‘pushbacks’—forced expulsions. The state’s Chief Minister claimed that 1,679 individuals had been ‘sent back’ over a two-year period. Conversely, Human Rights Watch reports that Indian border security forces are taking families—including children—through gaps in the border fence at night and pushing them back.
According to data from the India Persecution Tracker, anti-Muslim and hate-filled rhetoric by prominent political leaders contributes to creating an environment of discrimination and hate crimes against Muslims.
The report cites warnings issued by UN special rapporteurs regarding India. It notes that the manner in which many prominent Indian leaders label Muslims as “infiltrators” risks conflating Indian Muslim citizens with foreign nationals—a practice that could be construed as inciting discrimination under international law.
The report mentions a case where a Muslim judge sentenced 14 cow vigilantes to life imprisonment for a mob lynching; subsequently, he faced threats from Hindu extremists, necessitating special police protection. Through laws, policies, and official rhetoric, Muslims are being characterized as an “outsider” group. Consequently, Muslims are being branded as “foreigners” in their own country, and their continued existence and inclusion as citizens in India are becoming increasingly entangled in a web of arduous conditions.
