Mumbai: The year 2024 reported a sharp increase in communal riots as the numbers rised by a staggering 84% in comparison to the year 2023. The Centre Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS)’s study said that Maharashtra witnessed the highest number of communal riots followed by Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
CSSS compiled the data of communal riots incidents occured in the entire year of 2024. The report claimed that a total of 59 communal riots occurred in the year, marking a sharp increase of 84% from 32 communal riots reported in the year 2023.
Moreover, the rapport also claimed that Maharashtra witnessed the highest number of communal riots with 12 riots recorded in the year. It was followed by Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, with a record of seven riots each.
The report alleged that Maharashtra has emerged as a communal hotbed in the year 2024 with highest number of communal riots and mob lynching incidents, which claimed 13 lives including three Hindus and ten Muslims.
It claimed that majority of communal riots were triggered during religious festivals or processions, including four riots in January following the Pran Pratishthan ceremony at Ayodhya Ram Mandir, seven following Saraswati Puja immersions, four after Ganesh festivals, and two during Bakri Eid. CSSS’s data underscored that religious celebrations are increasingly exploited as triggers for communal tensions and political mobilisation.
The report also added that in addition to the communal riots, 12 incidents of mob lynching were reported in the year, resulting in 10 deaths including one Hindu, one Christian, and eight Muslims. CSSS added that while the incidents declined from 21 mob lynching incidents recorded in the year 2023, the persistence of these attacks is a concern.
The report added that six of these lynchings were linked to cow vigilantism or accusations of cow slaughter. Other cases of lynching were on the pretext of interfaith relationships and assaults targeting Muslims for their religious identity. Maharashtra accounted for three lynchings, while Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh each reported two incidents, and Karnataka recorded one.
On the other hand, communal riots reported a surged by nearly 84%. CSSS noted that the year saw a disturbing shift towards institutionalised form of violence, charecterised primarily by attacks on places of religious worship and attempts by fringe Hindu right-wing groups to push for archeological surveys of historic mosques and dargahs, including the Ajmer Sharif Dargah.
The report claimed that this trend was accompanied by significant legislative changes, like as the introduction of the Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand and amendments to the Waqf Board Act. Additionally, it added that the use of bulldozers to demolish properties owned by Muslims without due legal process continued unabated from 2023, symbolizing state power being wielded disproportionately against the Muslim community.
“Together, these developments signify an escalation of communal tensions and the marginalisation of Muslims, further threatening the secular fabric of Indian society. The rise in the number of communal riots can be attributed to the General Elections that were held in April/May and state assembly elections in the states of Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana,” said the report.
