Between May and July 2026, 25 Muslims were killed in India in incidents classified as anti-Muslim hate crimes. Of these, 15 deaths were attributed to state actors, while 10 were linked to Hindu extremist non-state actors. The total number of Muslims killed in the first seven months of 2026 reached 44, with 19 deaths caused by state actors and 25 by Hindutva assailants. The period also saw widespread demolitions of Muslim homes and religious structures, as well as mass detentions and expulsions.According to Maktoob Media, the India Persecution Tracker, maintained by the South Asia Justice Campaign, documented that state actors continued to use coercive measures against Muslims, including staged police encounters, custodial deaths, and forced expulsions, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Kashmir, and West Bengal.At least 23 Muslim religious structures were demolished in less than two months across six states, and over 1,000 Muslim homes, businesses, and religious sites were razed in at least 21 demolition episodes in eight states as coverage revealed. The Supreme Court declined to enforce its own demolition safeguards, remitting related contempt petitions to High Courts.Security forces in Kashmir detained more than 2,500 people within 48 hours of a militant attack in July and demolished two families’ homes with explosives. Police in at least six states allegedly selectively arrested Muslims during nationwide student protests according to reporting. Among the 25 Muslims killed, victims included an 11-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy.Anti-Muslim rhetoric from senior political figures was cited as contributing to a climate of discrimination as analysis showed. UN Special Rapporteurs warned that rhetoric around "infiltrators" risked conflating Indian Muslim citizens with foreign nationals, potentially amounting to incitement to discrimination under international law.“Through legislation, policy and official rhetoric, India’s highest public officials continued to condemn Muslims as a racialised outsider group—presumptively foreign in their own country, their belonging in India permanently conditional, the construction upon which every register, form and demolition order then goes to work,” the report noted.Communal mob violence targeting Muslims was reported in five states, with West Bengal experiencing the most severe incidents. Following the BJP’s first state election victory in West Bengal, attacks on mosques and Muslim-owned businesses resulted in at least two deaths, including one individual killed while protecting a mosque as further details emerged.The new West Bengal government introduced measures affecting Muslims, such as citizenship screening linked to welfare benefits, changes to the reservation list, a 62% reduction in the minority-affairs and madrasa budget, and restrictions on cattle slaughter. Police were instructed to hand detained alleged “infiltrators” to border forces without court proceedings, and the government reported 4,800 “deportations” in its first month as coverage indicated.In Assam, “pushback” expulsions continued, with the Chief Minister reporting 1,679 people sent back over two years. Human Rights Watch documented Indian forces taking families, including children, through border fence gaps at night. The legal framework affecting Muslim rights expanded, with Assam and Madhya Pradesh enacting Uniform Civil Codes overriding Muslim personal law, and Parliament criminalising ‘insulting’ the song Vande Mataram as reporting indicated.The tracker stated, “Fresh judgments during the quarter reinforced a pattern of impunity in older cases, with appellate courts upholding the acquittal of all 22 accused—21 of them police officers, in a 2005 staged-encounter triple killing, as well as the acquittal of five men accused of burning a Muslim man alive in 2002.”Public calls by Hindu extremists for the genocide of Muslims at a mass gathering near Delhi reportedly received no police action. The South Asia Justice Campaign also noted growing international concern over India’s human rights record, with UN bodies and experts raising issues regarding the crackdown on protesters, mass voter-roll deletions, and the treatment of minorities as further analysis showed.Note: This article is produced using AI-assisted tools and is based on publicly available information. It has been reviewed by The Quint's editorial team before publishing.