Hate Crimes Against Religious And Social Minorities In India: Causes, Consequences And Policy Gaps
- IJLLR Journal
- Dec 10, 2025
- 1 min read
Updated: Dec 11, 2025
Deepak Yadav, PhD Scholar, Sushant University
Dr. Sachin Datt, Associate Professor, School of Design
Dr. Himadri Shekhar Dey, Associate Professor, Department of Planning, Art & Research, School of Art & Architecture, Sushant University
ABSTRACT
The Review paper analyses the increasing rate of hate crimes against social and religious minority in India, and evaluates the social, political and institutional aspects that facilitate identity based violence. It discusses the role of polarisation, misinformation, and discriminatory legal practices in creating an atmosphere in which minorities feel the targeted aggression of the mob, lynching, communal violence, and discriminatory police actions. The paper assesses the reactions of the police and the courts, and finds some of the key policy failures which include inconsistent FIR registration, sluggish court proceedings, and inefficient enforcement of constitutional guarantees. It also evaluates the rank of India in the international human rights environment and benchmarks the international best practices. The Review enables the identification of the overall impacts of hate crimes on minority rights, social cohesion and democratic stability through case studies and interdisciplinary analysis. The study ends with detailed reform proposals to make the current system more accountable, more legally protective and more effective in institutional terms to prevent and effectively respond to hate-based violence.
Keywords: Hate crimes, religious minorities in India, social minorities, identity-based violence, communal violence, mob lynching, polarisation, misinformation, discriminatory legal practices, minority rights, police response, FIR registration, judicial delays, constitutional protections, human rights in India, policy gaps, institutional accountability, social cohesion, democratic stability, international best practices, criminal justice reform.
