‘Too much poison’: Attacks on Indian Muslims grow after Ram temple ceremony

Rapid Action Force soldiers keep guard in Ahmedabad, India on November 9, 2019, after India's Supreme Court ruled in favour of a Hindu temple on a disputed religious ground in Ayodhya. On January 22, 2024, Indian PM Narendra Modi consecrated the new Ram temple, and multiple attacks against religious minorities have been reported since then [File: Ajit Solanki/AP Photo]

Mumbai, India – Driving through the Mira Road neighbourhood of Mumbai was a usual affair for 21-year-old Mohammad Tariq, who ran errands on his father’s white loading auto carrier.

But on Tuesday, participants in a Hindu nationalist rally stopped the vehicle in the middle of the road. Young boys – mostly teenagers – dragged him out. They punched and kicked him and thrashed him with batons, flag staffs and iron chains, his 54-year-old father, Abdul Haque told Al Jazeera. Since then, Haque said, “[Tariq] has been terrified.”