Amid Indo-Pak tensions, Hindutva forces intensifies crackdown on Muslims
As military focus turned to Pakistan, BJP government turned inward — targeting Muslims across state of Uttar Pradesh
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — As tensions flared between India and Pakistan following the deadly attack in Pahalgam, Muslims in India came under renewed assault — both from Hindu extremist mobs and from the machinery of the state.
While the Indian government carried out cross-border strikes, authorities in Uttar Pradesh sealed and demolished hundreds of Islamic religious sites in the country’s northern districts.
The campaign, led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath — a Hindu supremacist figure — targeted over 350 madrasas, mosques, shrines, and other Islamic spaces near the India-Nepal border, under the pretext of removing “illegal encroachments.”
According to official reports, the crackdown spanned districts including Pilibhit, Shravasti, Balrampur, Bahraich, Siddharthnagar, and Maharajganj.
On May 10 and 11, officials in Shravasti sealed or demolished over 100 madrasas and multiple mosques and shrines.
In Bahraich, authorities identified 13 madrasas, 18 mosques, two shrines, and one Eidgah as illegal; five were sealed and 11 demolished. In Siddharthnagar, 23 Islamic institutions were declared unauthorized.
In Maharajganj, 29 madrasas and other religious structures were razed.
In Thimmapur, notices were issued to 13 sites, nine of which were sealed and three demolished. Local directories were also used to identify unregistered mosques and issue formal warnings.
Even as military attention shifted toward Pakistan, the domestic campaign against Muslims intensified — and it wasn’t limited to institutional demolitions.
In Deoband’s Amarpur village, an 80-year-old Muslim farmer named Israel was beaten by two men who reportedly pulled his beard, demanded he chant “Jai Shri Ram,” and attempted to attack him with a spade. The assault occurred while he was watering his fields.
In Gonda district, another Muslim man, Majid, was tied with a rope and beaten by a mob that accused him of theft.
A video of the assault was widely circulated on social media.
Further south, in Maharashtra’s Latur district, 30-year-old Amir Pathan died by suicide after being physically assaulted and called “Pakistani” during a road rage incident involving a local journalist.
The journalist allegedly hurled communal slurs, recorded the abuse, and threatened to release the video online. Pathan, a telecom executive, took his life the following day.
Meanwhile in Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar, Hindu nationalist groups threatened Muslim shopkeepers, demanding they publicly label their businesses by religion so customers could “choose” whether to buy from them — part of a growing call for an economic boycott of Muslims.
At least 184 hate crimes targeting Muslims and Kashmiris were reported across India in the wake of the Pahalgam attack, according to a compilation covering the period from April 22 to May 8 by the Association of Protection of Civil Rights (APCR).
These incidents are part of a broader and sustained campaign targeting Muslims in India.
While external conflicts like the recent Indo-Pak escalation are rare, the persecution of Muslims has been a constant feature of India’s political landscape under the Hindu nationalist government.
From institutional demolitions to mob violence and economic boycotts, the message is clear: Muslims are being pushed further to the margins — by both the state and street.
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