While the number of communal riots in India fell by more than half in 2025 compared to the previous year, religion-based violence and exclusion shifted to more systemic forms, a report by civil society organisation Centre for Study of Society and Secularism said.
There were 28 communal riots in 2025 as compared to 59 in 2024, marking a 52% reduction, the report said. The riots left four dead and 360 injured.
However, mob lynchings increased slightly in 2025, with 14 incidents claiming eight lives. In 2024, there were 13 cases of mob lynching, which resulted in 11 deaths.
The study by the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism was based on reports published in the Mumbai editions of The Indian Express, The Hindu, The Times of India, Sahafat and Inquilab.
The organisation said that although its analysis showed that the number of riots had declined, there did not seem to be any respite in “identity-based conflict and religion-based hatred, which has taken a different route”.
It pointed to institutional discrimination against Muslim and Christian communities, the “forced invisibilisation and marginalisation” of their cultures in public spaces, the proliferation of hate speech and impunity for Hindutva extremist groups.
At the same time, there has been a “marked hyper-visibility and assertion of dominance” of Hindu festivals, symbols and practices were increasingly visible in public…
Source: Over 50% drop in communal riots in 2025, but violence shifted to more systemic forms: Study
