Court orders Muslims to hand over 600-year-old shrine to Hindus
A court in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Uttar Pradesh ordered that the site of a 600-year-old Muslim saint’s shrine be handed over to Hindus. The court also rejected a decades-old plea filed by a group of Muslims seeking the ownership of the site where the saint, Sheikh Badruddin Shah, is buried.
Disputes related to the site began 53 years ago after a group of Hindu supremacists claimed that the plot of land was a location mentioned in the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata.
Hindu supremacist group claims popular Muslim shrine is a Hindu temple
A Hindu supremacist organization has claimed that a historic Muslim shrine in Rajasthan is a Hindu temple and demanded that the government survey the structure for Hindu symbols. The 13th century mausoleum, dedicated to the Muslim saint Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, attracts tourists and devotees of all faiths.
The Hindu supremacist group’s claim was brought forth on the heels of an Uttar Pradesh court ruling allowing Hindu rituals to be held in the basement of the historic Gyanvapi mosque.
Hindu extremists harass Muslim man accompanying Hindu woman
A Muslim man and a Hindu woman were harassed by members of the Hindu supremacist group Ram Sena in Mangalore, Karnataka. The group also tried to assault the Muslim man, Rehman.
Hindu militants are known for violently policing interfaith relationships and interactions between Muslim men and Hindu women, resulting in Muslim men being publicly attacked, arbitrarily arrested, and sometimes lynched.
BJP leaders, lawmakers deliver anti-Muslim hate speeches in Maharashtra
With India’s general elections approaching, BJP politicians have ramped up anti-Muslim hate speech in election rallies as a way to win Hindu votes. In Maharashtra state, BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay targeted Islamic seminaries and avocating for removing Muslims’ status as minorities and, by extension, any protections that come with that status. In Mumbai, BJP leader Nitesh Rane demonized Muslims and advocated violence against them.
Hindu supremacist leaders have also continued to spread hate speech. One Hindu supremacist group leader, Dinesh Patil, used anti-Muslim slurs in a speech. In Akola, far-right leader Kajal Hindustani peddled disinformation and conspiracy theories to stoke fear and hatred against Muslims.
