209 hate-crime cases against minorities reported in India in a month
New report documents 209 hate-crime incidents against minorities in November 2025, exposing rising hostility and state-linked discrimination across India
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — India recorded 209 cases of hate crimes targeting religious and social minorities in November 2025, according to a new report published by the Justice and Empowerment of Minorities (JEM), an initiative of the influential Muslim organization Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind.
The findings highlight growing hostility and institutional bias amid rising concerns over democratic backsliding and minority safety.
The report categorizes cases into seven forms of hate-driven harm, with “Acts of Hate” — including verbal abuse, online intimidation, and community-targeted slurs — constituting the largest share at 71 cases (34 percent).
These incidents overwhelmingly affected Muslim communities, who remain the primary target of religiously motivated hostility in India. Observers say Dalits, Christians and Sikhs were also disproportionately represented among victims.
The second-largest category, “Discrimination, Exclusion and Prejudice,” accounted for 61 cases (29.2 percent), involving barriers in education, employment, housing, and public access — what analysts describe as deepening structural exclusion backed by state and private actors.
The data identifies 28 cases (13.4 percent) involving media manipulation and distortion of facts, where misinformation or inflammatory coverage was used to polarize public opinion and reinforce stereotypes.
Researchers say hostile media ecosystems have become a driving force in normalising violence and majoritarian rhetoric.
Worryingly, the report documents 18 cases (8.6 percent) of state-sponsored discriminatory practices, including targeted administrative actions, evictions and punitive policies. Human-rights advocates say such measures increasingly blur the lines between governance and political persecution.
Another 13 cases (6.2 percent) fall under police atrocities, ranging from custodial abuse to deliberate inaction during communal incidents — further fuelling accusations of institutional bias within law-enforcement agencies.
The report also recorded 10 attacks on religious spaces (4.8 percent), including vandalism and encroachment targeting mosques, madrassas and shrines, and eight incidents of physical violence (3.8 percent) such as mob assaults, lynching attempts and assault linked to religious identity.
Rights groups say the numbers represent not isolated incidents but a widening pattern of targeted violence, rising public impunity and a political climate that emboldens majoritarian aggression. They warn that India’s democratic institutions face increasing pressure as hate-driven narratives gain mainstream visibility in politics and media.
Analysts also note that many cases go unreported or unresolved due to fear of retaliation and low trust in police accountability, suggesting the real scale may be significantly higher.
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