Anti-Muslim hate crimes in India: 25 Muslims killed in 3 months

New Delhi: At least 25 Muslims were killed in India between May and July 2026, including 15 allegedly killed by police and security personnel and 10 by Hindu extremist actors in religiously motivated attacks, according to the South Asia Justice Campaign’s India Persecution Tracker. The victims included an 11-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy.

The tracker said the latest figures bring the number of Muslims killed in the first seven months of 2026 to 44, with 19 deaths attributed to state actors and 25 to Hindutva assailants. It warned that 2026 could become the deadliest year for anti-Muslim hate killings since the tracker began documenting such deaths in 2022.

The report alleges continued use of coercive measures against Muslims, including custodial and encounter killings, mass detentions, demolitions and expulsions towards Bangladesh. More than 1,000 Muslim homes, businesses and religious structures were reportedly demolished in at least 21 episodes across eight states, while 23 Muslim religious structures were razed in less than two months. The total number of such structures demolished in 2026 has reportedly crossed 3,000.

West Bengal emerged as a major flashpoint after the BJP formed its first government there. The tracker alleges attacks on mosques, Muslim-owned businesses and hawkers’ settlements that killed at least two people. It also cites citizenship screening, changes to reservation policies, cuts to minority and madrasa funding, surveillance of madrasas and restrictions on cattle slaughter.

In Assam, alleged “pushbacks” towards Bangladesh continued, while Kashmir saw more than 2,500 detentions following a July militant attack and the demolition of two families’ homes.

The report also raises concerns over laws, judicial decisions and political rhetoric, it says, have deepened discrimination against Muslims, alongside growing warnings from UN experts over the treatment of minorities in India.

Based on a Maktoob Media report