“This data highlights how religious celebrations are increasingly being used to fuel communal tensions and political mobilization,” the report stated.The report also noted that the spike in the number of communal riots could be partly attributed to the general elections that were held in April/ May, 2024 and to various state Assembly elections that were also held last year.”Hate speeches with communal overtures were used to polarize communities on religious basis. Part of the spike in the number of communal riots can be attributed to the ecosystem of impunity that is promoted by the state,” the report noted.The report further stated that communal riots in 2024 involved lesser planning and lasted only a few hours as compared to incidents of the previous years. It also noted that a pervading atmosphere of communal consciousness made it easier for communal riots to take place for the smallest reasons.”It’s become common that even in case of the most mundane arguments between persons from two different religious groups, the incident is given a communal turn. The most common trigger observed is that of organizing aggressive rallies and derogatory sloganeering in public spaces during religious festivals,” the report said.Other triggers included debates over places of worship and desecration of religious places.”The year 2024 witnessed six communal riots over the issue of contested places of worship, mainly the state and right-wing fringe groups alleging that mosques and dargahs were illegal or that they were built on Hindu place of worship,” the report stated adding that as many as ten lives were lost in such communal riots with nine being Muslims.The report also noted that in addition to the 59 incidents of communal violence, 13 incidents of mob lynching were also reported by the media in 2024. These lynchings resulted in 11 deaths—one Hindu, one Christian, and nine Muslims.”Seven of these incidents of lynching were linked to cow vigilantism or accusations of cow slaughter. Other cases of lynching were on the accusations of interfaith relationships and assaults targeting Muslims for their religious identity,” the report noted.
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