IAMC Weekly India Human Rights Monitor (May 16, 2026)

This Week at a Glance 

This week, new data showed at least 13 Muslims killed in religiously motivated hate crimes in the first four months of 2026, including four deaths involving state actors. In Madhya Pradesh, Hindus began offering prayers at the disputed Bhojshala-Kamal Maula Mosque complex after the High Court declared the site a temple and ended the arrangement allowing Friday prayers by Muslims. Across Mumbai, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh, demolition drives razed homes in several Muslim-majority neighborhoods, displacing hundreds of families and threatening historic mosques. Incidents of vigilante violence also continued, with Muslim men assaulted in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh by Hindu extremist groups over allegations related to interfaith relationships and cow slaughter. Meanwhile, a series of administrative actions, from the possible exclusion of 2.7 million deleted voters from welfare schemes in West Bengal to madrassa funding freezes in Uttarakhand and hijab-related discrimination in Uttar Pradesh, further deepened concerns over the targeting and marginalization of Muslims across the country.

 

Top Stories

At least 13 Muslims killed in hate crimes in first quarter of 2026, four by state actors: Report

In the first four months of 2026, at least 13 Muslims, including two women, a 15-year-old boy, and a 65-year-old man, were killed by Hindu extremist non-state actors in religiously-motivated hate crimes across eight states, India Persecution Tracker data shows.

 

 

 

 

 

High Court illegally hands over  Kamal Maula mosque to Hindus

Hindus began offering prayers at the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula Mosque complex in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district, a day after the the Madhya Pradesh High Court declared the site to be a temple and ended the arrangement that allowed Muslims to offer Friday prayers there, while directing the state government to consider allotting alternate land for the construction of a mosque. This follows a series of illegal court orders where Muslim places of worship have been converted into temples.

 

 

 

RSS seeks legitimacy abroad amid growing calls for sanctions over violence against minorities

After the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended targeted sanctions against the Hindu fascist paramilitary Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the group is sending its leaders on a PR offensive across the U.S., U.K., and Germany. Experts say the outreach is less about genuine dialogue and more about “damage control”, aimed at countering growing international scrutiny over allegations of long-standing involvement in violence against religious minorities.

 

 

Demolition drives target Muslim neighborhoods in Mumbai, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh

More than 100 houses in Darukhana, Mumbai, were demolished during an operation carried out by civic officials, leaving several families homeless ahead of the monsoon season. In the Muslim-majority Jaitpur area in Delhi, bulldozers flattened several homes, affecting hundreds of people. In Varanasi’s Muslim-majority Dalmandi area, at least 107 homes have been razed, and six mosques, including 226-Year-Old Mosque, face removal.

 

 

 

Muslim men assaulted by Hindu extremists in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh

A Muslim man was assaulted and publicly humiliated by a group identified as members of the Hindu militant group, Bajrang Dal, in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, after he was found with a Hindu woman in a hotel room. Meanwhile, Hindu extremist cow vigilantes brutally assaulted three Muslim men over suspicion of transporting beef in Siwan, Bihar.

 

 

Hate crimes and discrimination in India

This week, in West Bengal, anxiety has deepened after the BJP government indicated that people whose names were deleted during the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls could be excluded from welfare schemes, affecting over 2.7 Million voters removed during the process. Meanwhile, ahead of Eid al-Adha, the state also banned public slaughter of cows, bulls, and buffaloes and made official certification mandatory for slaughter. In Uttarakhand, authorities froze funds for 23 madrassas in Haridwar amid an intensified crackdown over alleged irregularities, while in Uttar Pradesh, a Muslim teacher in Varanasi alleged pressure to remove her hijab to keep her job at a private school. Separately, in Sambhal district, three school staff members were suspended and an FIR filed after students were seen reciting the Urdu prayer during a morning assembly, triggering a political controversy online.

 

Resistance & Organizing

Befitting Response to Hindutva Leader’s Hatred: Mumbai Muslim Youth Feeds All

In a direct, compassionate response to a widely condemned act of communal hatred, a Muslim youth in Mumbai launched a free food distribution drive for people of all communities, aiming to promote inclusivity and unity. The initiative followed a recent incident in which Hindu extremist leader Pinky Chaudhary was seen in a viral video snatching a food plate from a Muslim man during a public event in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, stating, “No Muslim should eat our food.”

 

 

 

Defender of the Week

This week, we’re spotlighting Rejaz M. Sydeek, a 27-year-old student activist and independent journalist from Kerala, who has been at the forefront of documenting caste injustice and state repression. It has been one year since he was arrested and charged under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for making social media posts that criticized India’s Operation Sindoor. The activist has long campaigned for social justice and accountability from the state apparatus. He is a vocal critic of human rights abuses and a pro-Palestinian organiser.

 

Voices from the Ground 

“The verdict delivered by the Madhya Pradesh High Court in the Bhojshala–Kamal Maula Mosque case has caused immense concern and shock… It is even more concerning that the judgment appears to have relied on the Ayodhya verdict as a precedent, despite the Supreme Court treating that case as exceptional in nature. Dismissing the historical prayer rights of the Muslim community and suggesting alternate land instead is incompatible with the principles of justice and equality. The historical and religious rights of a community cannot be compensated merely through the allotment of alternate land.”

– M. H. Jawahirullah, Tamil Nadu MLA

IAMC in Action

• A coalition of leading civil rights and advocacy organizations, including IAMC condemned the Hudson Institute for platforming senior leaders of India’s Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a foreign organization that a U.S. congressionally-mandated federal panel has explicitly called to be sanctioned for its role in religious persecution of minorities in India. Read the statement here. 
• IAMC’s Executive Director Rasheed Ahmed published an OpeEd on VHPA’s connection to Hindu nationalists. Read here.

What to Watch Next Week

• IAMC Boston along with coalition partners ASDSA, BSAC and SAPAN have organized an event “ Stories the State Wants Erased” featuring Neha Dixit, award winning author and journalist.