Hyderabad: Siasat.com recorded 61 hate crimes across India in April – 49 targeting Muslims, 10 against Dalits and two against Christians. The numbers are consistent with the steady religious and caste-motivated violence that has marked every month of this year.
As in March, the victims were disproportionately Muslim women, children and the elderly, alongside members of the Dalit community. The violence ranged from physical assault to social humiliation. In at least one case, a calculated attempt was made to drive a minority community out of a residential neighbourhood.
A politically consequential month
Chief Ministers of Assam and West Bengal – himanta Biswa Sarma and Suvendu Adhikari
April was an important month for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The party swept the Assembly elections in both Assam and West Bengal. While it retained Assam, in a significant political shift, the saffron party ousted the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal to form a government there for the first time since Independence. The victories gave the party an iron fist across the northern and northeastern states of India.
The elections, however, were shadowed by a disturbing development in West Bengal. Over 90 lakh voters, a majority of whom were Muslims, were deleted from electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, a mass deletion that is widely seen as having heavily influenced the outcome.
Uttar Pradesh, under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, continued its practice of “bulldozer justice.” Neighbouring Uttarakhand announced it would dissolve the state Madrasa Board, effective July.
Boycotts, beef vigilantism and Lenskart
BJP’s Nazia Khan confronts Lenskart manager over ban on tilak, sindoor
Economic and social boycotts of Muslims persisted through the month. Cattle traders faced physical violence on allegations of illegally transporting, selling or consuming beef.
Eyewear retailer Lenskart came under pressure from a different direction. An outdated internal list of guidelines surfaced that had barred employees from displaying religious marks such as a tilak or bindi, prompting a communally charged campaign against the company, with particular attention paid to its hiring practices.
Also ReadBJP’s Nazia Khan targets Lenskart manager over ban on tilak, sindoor
The murder of Roshan Khatoon
Roshan Khatoon
One of the accused in the murder of Roshan Khatoon was released on bail and received a public hero’s welcome. Khatoon was killed during Ramzan. She was tied to a tree and, when she asked for water, was fed urine mixed with alcohol.
The manner of her death and the reception afforded to her alleged killer drew a lot of attention across India.
Driving Muslims out of Delhi’s Tri Nagar
In Delhi’s Tri Nagar, some Hindu residents adopted an unusual and deeply provocative strategy to push Muslims out of their neighbourhood. They adopted pigs and worshipped them publicly. The residents justified it by claiming that Muslims had “taken over” the locality’s demographic composition.
In Noida, a Muslim couple was stopped by an inebriated man inside a gated community and asked to produce identity documents, causing an uproar among residents. When a Hindu woman in the same complex spoke up in their defence, she was subjected to an avalanche of online abuse and rape threats.
Also ReadLocals ‘worship’ pigs in Delhi’s Tri Nagar to drive Muslims away
The episode echoed the recent experience of Deepak Kumar, a Hindu man from Uttarakhand known as “Mohammed Deepak,” who was subjected to relentless threats and economic harassment by Hindutva supporters after he publicly stood up for an elderly man.
Together, the two cases reveal the same chilling dynamic. That Hindus who defend Muslims are quickly branded traitors, a sign of just how deeply polarised the social fabric has become.
TCS case and witch-hunt of Nida Khan
A serious case of alleged workplace misconduct at Nashik‘s Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) became the month’s most politically weaponised story. A Hindu woman from the SC/ST community levelled allegations of sexual harassment, coercion and religious conversion attempts against male Muslim colleagues, including HR executive Nida Khan.
Multiple first information reports (FIRs) were filed. Khan was accused of both ignoring complaints and of allegedly participating in coercive behaviour herself. Police launched a search for her, courts denied anticipatory bail, and she was eventually arrested.
What followed in much of the mainstream media, however, was not coverage of a sexual harassment case but a communal pile-on. Khan was the target of an online witch hunt, with conspiracy theories circulating freely. The case remains under investigation, but for many commentators and news anchors, verdicts had been delivered long before the law could take its course.
Dalits forced to bring their own utensils, a groom dragged off horse
April’s 10 hate crimes against Dalits were varied in form but uniform in intent – the reinforcement of caste hierarchy through humiliation and fear. Across the country, Dalits were forced to clean police stations as a condition for bail, grooms were barred from riding horses at their own weddings and victims were driven to suicide by relentless social humiliation.
The cycle of caste-based oppression shows no sign of abating.
In Kerala, a 22-year-old Dalit student jumped from his college building after enduring sustained caste-based discrimination from his teachers. In Gujarat, Dalits attending a temple event were asked to bring their own plates and drinking water bowls. In Madhya Pradesh, a 23-year-old groom with physical disability was dragged off his horse by upper-caste men during his own wedding procession and beaten. These were men who believe Dalits have no right to such customs.
St Francis called a ‘terrorist’ in Goa
In Goa, Gautam Khattar, founder of Sanatan Mahasangh, directed hate speech at St Francis Xavier, the 16th-century Catholic missionary venerated across the state. Khattar called him a “terrorist and cruel ruler,” and went further, “His body was eaten by worms. Neither the soul remained nor the body survived. Even his bones were chewed up and reduced to pieces by worms.”
His comments triggered widespread outrage and resulted in an FIR and a lookout notice being issued against him.
Also ReadGautam Khattar gets bail after arrest over remarks against St Francis Xavier
Social humiliation, intimidation, hate speeches, assaults, ostracisation and violence – the cycle of hate continued in April.
(Reporting Khadija Irfan Rahim and Veena Nair)
Get the latest updates in Hyderabad City News, Technology, Entertainment, Sports, Politics and Top Stories on WhatsApp & Telegram by subscribing to our channels. You can also download our app for Android and iOS.
