IPT 2.3 | June 2023 | Section 3
- There were multiple incidents of cow vigilantes assaulting Muslims farmers or drivers travelling with cattle. These have been reported from Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, among others. These attacks are portrayed as euphoric triumphs on social media and news media with the violent group, Bajrang Dal claiming to have saved the cows from slaughter, as seen in this video from Jammu, and this from Mewat (Haryana) in May.
- April 11th, Haryana: Cow vigilantes, including Bajrang Dal members assaulted a Muslim truck driver for transporting cattle. Images of the assaulted driver and the perpetrators was circulated online by the vigilante groups. In one of the images, three policemen are standing with some of the perpetrators, and the ‘rescued’ cattle, together with the transporting truck.
- On May 23rd, a Muslim man Maktoob was attacked by a group of men on a road in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh. According to Maktoob’s statement, he was attacked by 4 men as he was returning to his village from a madarsa, in what he deems to be a case of hate crime. In 2013 Muzaffarnagar had witnessed communal violence allegedly instigated by BJP leaders which killed 60 people and displaced over 40,000 people.
- On May 25th, in Kota (Rajasthan) a group of Muslim men, women and children who were travelling for their Haj pilgrimage in a bus were attacked by Hindu extremists who boarded the bus, identified the group as Muslims, and proceeded to assault them.
- Mohd Faris was assaulted by Bajrang Dal activists on May 3rd in Puttur, Karnataka, alleged over ‘love jihad’ for going to watch a movie with a Hindu female friend.
- On May 17th, Bajrang Dal members in Faridabad, Haryana, assaulted a Muslim man for allegedly speaking with a Hindu girl. They recorded and shared a video of the assault online.
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The international borders between India, Pakistan and China are disputed and this map is for reference purposes only.