But increasingly, incendiary songs directed at Muslims have become a precursor to these attacks. It was the latest in a series of attacks against Muslims in India, where hard-line Hindu nationalists have long espoused a rigid anti-Muslim stance and preached violence against them. “Our lives were destroyed in just one day,” said Hidayatullah Mansuri, a mosque official. Overnight, dozens of families were displaced. Their shops and homes were looted and set ablaze. By the time the violence subsided, the Muslims were left disproportionately affected. Soon groups of Hindus and Muslims began throwing stones at each other, police said.
Videos showed hundreds of them dancing and cheering in unison to songs blared from loudspeakers that included calls for violence against Muslims. On April 10, a Hindu festival marking the birth anniversary of Lord Ram turned violent in Madhya Pradesh state’s Khargone city after Hindu mobs brandishing swords and sticks marched past Muslim neighborhoods and mosques. It ended with Muslim neighborhoods resembling a war zone, with pavements littered with broken glass, charred vehicles and burned mosques.
The frenzied fury against Muslims began with provocative songs played by Hindu mobs that called for violence.
