NEW DELHI — Violence against Muslims in India has claimed at least 27 lives in 2026, which is said to be the highest annual toll recorded since 2022, according to data compiled by the South Asia Justice Campaign (SAJC).
The organisation’s India Persecution Tracker (IPT), in its latest assessment, points to a pattern of deaths involving law enforcement personnel as well as attacks by non-state groups, including cow vigilantes. It also draws attention to the treatment of Muslim communities through policing, electoral processes and citizenship-related measures.
The figures for the August–October quarter show that eight Muslims died in incidents involving state authorities across six states. Three were killed in police shootings, while five others died in custody or inside prisons.
A further eight Muslims were killed in attacks attributed to cow vigilantes and other non-state groups across four states during the same period. West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh reported three deaths each.
The campaign said the number of Muslims killed by non-state actors this year had already surpassed the annual figures recorded since it began tracking such incidents in January 2022.
Uttar Pradesh figures raise questions over police action
Uttar Pradesh accounted for a particularly large share of the incidents recorded in the report. Of the 146 cases documented across the country during the three-month period, 103 were reported from the state.
The tracker drew attention to police shootings involving Muslim men, particularly during operations connected with alleged cattle smuggling. It said more than 100 Muslim men were shot by police in Uttar Pradesh during the reporting period.
Figures released by the state police in October showed that Muslims accounted for 110 of the 316 people killed in police encounters since 2017. In other words, Muslims made up roughly 35 per cent of those killed, despite constituting about 19 per cent of Uttar Pradesh’s population.
The report also examined shootings that take place before suspects are formally arrested, commonly referred to as ‘half-encounters’. It recorded at least 118 Muslim men being shot and injured in such incidents between August and October, including 105 cases in Uttar Pradesh. Many of the individuals were facing allegations related to cattle offences, according to the tracker.
The findings also draw attention to an Associated Press investigation published last month. Examining approximately 650 people shot by Uttar Pradesh Police in cases involving alleged cow smuggling since 2020, the investigation found that nearly 93 per cent of those whose identities could be established were Muslims.
Questions surrounding police accountability were also raised through an Allahabad High Court order dated August 13. The court directed a federal inquiry into a police shooting and noted that all 23 officers involved had received rewards for what authorities described as their ‘good work’.
Apart from violence and police action, the tracker examined developments that could affect the political and civic rights of Muslim communities, particularly Bengali-speaking Muslims who are frequently accused of being undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh.
One area of concern is the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which has involved large-scale scrutiny of voter registrations across several states.
By mid-October, more than 61 million names had been removed from draft electoral lists during the third phase of the exercise, which covered 18 states and Union territories. When deletions from earlier phases are included, the number of names removed since the exercise began in Bihar in 2025 had crossed 133 million.
The SAJC raised questions over the use of Form 7, the procedure through which objections can be filed against a person’s inclusion in the voter list. According to the tracker, bulk objections seeking the removal of Muslim voters had been submitted in at least five states.
West Bengal presented another concern. By mid-September, appeals tribunals had reportedly resolved only 126,194 out of 3.83 million appeals, leaving millions of cases pending.
The report also examined the renewed political discussion around a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC). On September 13, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the government was consulting its allies on a proposed nationwide exercise to identify illegal immigrants.
