New Delhi: On September 24, 40-year-old Saikun Khan, a farmer from Barawas village in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, went out to buy a tube for his tyre. Wearing a skullcap, he was riding his motorcycle when a man allegedly knocked him off his bike outside the Baroda Meo police station and crushed his head with a stone.
A villager quoted in the report said the attacker shouted: “Today I have killed one mulla, now I will kill more.”
The police, however, reportedly found no religious motive behind the killing.
Saikun was the 54th person killed in hate crimes against religious minorities documented by the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) between January 1 and September 30, 2026.
The organisation’s two reports, released in New Delhi on November 10, paint a disturbing picture of religious hostility in India. Combining the findings of its Hate Crime Tracker and Hate Speech Tracker, APCR documented **405 instances in nine months – an average of almost 1.5 hate crimes and hate speeches every day.**
The breakdown is equally alarming. The Hate Crime Tracker recorded 322 incidents targeting Muslims and Christians across 24 states and Union Territories, resulting in 54 deaths. Separately, the Hate Speech Tracker documented 83 speeches by 57 speakers across at least 16 states.
The combined figure does not mean 405 physical attacks. It brings together documented incidents of violence and instances of inflammatory speech, two different but increasingly interconnected forms of hostility.
State Complicity and Police Inaction in 37% of Documented Hate Crimes
Perhaps the most disturbing finding is the involvement of state institutions in the violence.
Of the 322 hate crimes, 119 incidents – 37 per cent – involved state actors, including the police and administration. Twenty-one of the 54 deaths occurred at the hands of state authorities: 12 in alleged police or security-force encounters and nine in custody or prison.
The report also exposes an unusual pattern of criminal proceedings. In 40 of the 108 incidents where an FIR was registered, cases were filed against the victims themselves rather than the alleged attackers. In another 117 incidents, the existence of an FIR could not be confirmed.
The accountability gap is equally evident in hate speech.
Of the 83 speeches recorded, 33 were delivered by people holding public office, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and several Chief Ministers.
Thirty-seven speeches contained calls for violence or appeals for Hindus to arm themselves.
APCR identified approximately 12 repeat speakers responsible for nearly 50 speeches and video clips. Seven of them hold public office. Despite the repeated inflammatory statements, none of these 12 individuals was arrested.
The tracker found that only one of the 83 hate-speech incidents resulted in an arrest. Overall, six resulted in FIRs.
Surge in Anti-Muslim Hate Speech and Boycott Calls Despite Supreme Court Orders
The hate-speech report also documents how the language of hostility has acquired different forms.
Muslims were described as infiltrators or Bangladeshis in 19 speeches. Another 16 used dehumanising expressions, while 18 called for their social or economic boycott or exclusion from neighbourhoods and religious celebrations. Twelve invoked different forms of so-called jihad.
The report also records 110 inflammatory video clips relating to Uttam Nagar in Delhi following the death of a 26-year-old man, Tarun, during a neighbourhood altercation on Holi in March.
Some of these clips reportedly demanded that Muslims be killed, shot or subjected to police encounters. Despite the Supreme Court’s directions requiring police to register hate-speech cases suo motu, the report found no hate-speech FIRs registered in the Uttam Nagar episode.
Cattle Vigilantism, Festivals, and Post-Poll Violence in West Bengal Drive Attacks
The hate-crime findings suggest that violence is increasingly triggered by ordinary aspects of everyday life – food, cattle transportation, festivals, religious symbols and even personal relationships across religions.
Meat and cattle were the most common specific triggers, accounting for approximately one in four incidents. Festivals and processions were associated with one in five.
The report identifies a particularly disturbing pattern in West Bengal following the Assembly election results. APCR documented 34 incidents across eight districts in just four days, with 30 targeting Muslims. At least ten mosques were attacked, while Muslim homes, businesses and other properties were also targeted.
The Christian community was not spared. APCR documented 15 incidents involving Christians, most arising from allegations of religious conversion. One involved an attack on a prayer meeting attended by more than 25 people in Sukma, Chhattisgarh.
Underreporting and Lack of FIRs: Why APCR Says the True Toll Is Higher
APCR cautions that its figures are not a comprehensive count of hate crimes in India. The documentation relies on media reports, its own records and fact-finding exercises. Many incidents go unreported, while others receive little follow-up.
The organisation’s findings therefore represent documented cases rather than the actual scale of the problem.
The reports raise a larger question about the relationship between hate speech and hate crimes: when inflammatory rhetoric becomes normalised, when public representatives participate in it, and when perpetrators face little accountability, what prevents words from turning into violence?
For Saikun Khan and the 53 others who lost their lives, that question is no longer theoretical.
