Muslim trader killed in communal clashes in Tripura State

One person was killed and 17 others were injured in a series of communal clashes that broke out on 6 October in Kadamtala, in the North Tripura district of India’s Tripura State.

The clashes arose from a disagreement over the collection of donations for the Hindu Durga Puja festival, in which a vehicle carrying Muslim passengers was allegedly stopped by Hindu residents belonging to a local club called the Indian Club in Kadamtala market. A scuffle initially ensued after the locals demanded that the group make donations to the festival, and violence escalated when a crowd of Muslims arrived at the scene.

Several shops were set ablaze, vandalised and looted, and a mosque in the vicinity was also vandalised. Local police arrived swiftly to quell the tensions, however their use of gunfire resulted in the death of a Muslim trader identified as Alfesani. The government later identified 69 families that were affected by the violence.

The police subsequently imposed Section 163 of the Indian Citizen Safety Code, which prohibits unauthorised gatherings of five or more people, the carrying of firearms or other weapons, and the organising of protests, from 7 October to 9 October. Two cases have been registered and 11 people have been arrested so far.

Religious festivals have increasingly become a source of communal tension in India. In September violent clashes erupted between Hindu and Muslim communities in Nagamangla, Karnataka during a Hindu festival of the deity Lord Ganesh. Six shops and 13 small stalls were set on fire, and over 50 people were arrested.

A 2023 report by the New Delhi-based Citizens and Lawyers Initiative exploring instances of communal violence during the Hindu festivals of Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti in April 2022 found that militant religious groups have used religious processions to incite violence against religious minorities.

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: ‘CSW is concerned that far right groups are using processions, festivals and public religious occasions to perpetrate violence and hatred towards religious minorities. Mobs are being emboldened to act with impunity, and local incidents can often spread widely. We urge the authorities to take measures to ensure that such occasions are not used to incite and instigate violence, and well call on them to hold those responsible for this recent incident in Tripura to account.’