Surge in Anti-Minority Violence: 2026 Sees Highest Death Toll for Muslims Since 2022
A distressing new report from the South Asia Justice Campaign’s (SAJC) India Persecution Tracker has shed light on a violent trend unfolding across India throughout 2026. The findings indicate that the year has become the deadliest for the country’s Muslim minority since 2022, with at least 27 individuals killed by both state and non-state actors.
The comprehensive data highlights a disturbing rise in incidents involving police encounters, custodial deaths, and mob violence linked to cow vigilantism. These findings underscore a growing national concern regarding the erosion of accountability, the rise of communal tensions, and the alleged discriminatory nature of law enforcement practices.
State-Led Actions and Policing Patterns
The tracker indicates that in the three-month period between August and October, at least eight Muslims were killed by state authorities across six different states. These fatalities include three deaths in police-led encounters and five deaths occurring within police or judicial custody.
Perhaps most concerning are the reports of “half-encounters”—a term used to describe incidents where suspects are shot, often in the legs, before any formal arrest is processed. Between August and October alone, at least 118 Muslim men were reported to have been wounded in such operations, with the vast majority of these cases occurring in Uttar Pradesh.
The report also points to systemic disparities in justice. Official police data from Uttar Pradesh, which has documented 103 of the 146 total incidents in the current quarterly report, shows that Muslims make up 35% of those killed in police encounters since 2017—a figure significantly disproportionate to their 19% share of the state population.
Mob Violence and Communal Harassment
Outside of direct state intervention, non-state actors, specifically cow vigilante groups, have been identified as primary drivers of violence. In the late summer and early autumn of 2026, eight such killings were recorded. West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh were identified as the primary hotspots for these attacks.
Beyond the loss of life, the report details a wider pattern of intimidation. Many victims reported being subjected to religious humiliation, such as being coerced into chanting specific slogans, while others faced public harassment and systemic abuse. The findings note that in instances where legal recourse was sought, such as an August order from the Allahabad High Court, accountability remained elusive, with the court noting that officers involved in questionable shootings had actually been rewarded for their conduct.
Electoral Marginalization and Citizenship Concerns
The report further raises alarms regarding the political climate, particularly in the context of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. With over 133 million names removed from voter lists since 2025 across multiple states, the report highlights that a large number of formal objections have been filed against Muslim voters under Section 7 of the election laws.
As the government moves toward potentially implementing a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC) and increases scrutiny on religion-based demographic data, advocates fear that these administrative hurdles are being used to further marginalize minority communities. The South Asia Justice Campaign concludes that these combined factors represent a severe challenge to constitutional protections and the safety of religious minorities in India.
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