The toll of caste-based atrocities against Dalits far exceeds deaths from Pakistan-linked terrorism, yet the state’s response remains muted. Calls to label perpetrators “Sanatan terrorists” reflect growing frustration, but risk inflaming tensions.
May 11, 2025 | NEW DELHI
In India, a grim statistic underscores a persistent divide: caste-based violence against Dalits, or Scheduled Castes (SCs), claims more lives each year than terrorism linked to Pakistan-based groups. Data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reveals a relentless tide of atrocities—51,656 cases against SCs in 2022 alone—while terrorism, though geopolitically charged, kills fewer in sporadic, high-profile attacks. Yet, the establishment prioritizes cross-border threats, relegating caste violence to the margins as a “social issue.” Frustration with this disparity has spurred a provocative term: “Sanatan terrorism,” equating caste oppression with ideological violence. The label, though divisive, highlights a crisis demanding urgent action.
A Systemic Scourge
Caste violence, rooted in India’s rigid social hierarchies, targets over 160 million Dalits with brutal regularity. NCRB figures paint a stark picture:
- Escalating Cases: Crimes against SCs rose from 42,793 in 2018 to 50,900 in 2021, reaching 51,656 in 2022. Uttar Pradesh (23.78%), Rajasthan (16.75%), and Madhya Pradesh (14.97%) accounted for 81% of cases.
- Human Toll: Estimates suggest 600–800 Dalits are murdered annually, with 13 killed weekly. A 2024 report noted 27 daily atrocities, including three rapes of Dalit women and two assaults hourly.
- Women’s Plight: From 2011 to 2021, 20.4% of 205,146 SC/ST Act cases involved violence against Dalit women, averaging 10 rapes daily.
- Justice Denied: Conviction rates languish at 32% (2019), with 96.5% of cases pending trial in 2020. Police collusion and societal pressure often shield perpetrators.
Recent incidents illustrate the horror. In July 2024, a Dalit teenager in Uttar Pradesh was forced to drink urine by upper-caste youths. In August, a Dalit family in Madhya Pradesh was gunned down. A nine-year-old Dalit boy in Rajasthan was beaten to death for drinking from an upper-caste water pot. Such acts, often sparked by Dalits asserting basic rights, expose a systemic failure to enforce the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Terrorism’s Lesser Toll
By contrast, terrorism attributed to Pakistan-based groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed or Lashkar-e-Taiba, while deadly, claims fewer lives. Historical attacks—166 killed in the 2008 Mumbai siege, 40 in the 2019 Pulwama bombing—were devastating, but their frequency has waned. In 2025, a Kashmir attack killed 26 tourists, with India alleging Pakistani ties, though evidence is thin. The Global Terrorism Index (2025) notes 8,352 global terrorism deaths in 2024, but India-specific figures suggest 50–200 annual deaths from such attacks, per the South Asia Terrorism Portal.
Terrorism’s geopolitical weight—prompting airstrikes, as after Pulwama, or diplomatic offensives—ensures swift state action. Caste violence, despite its higher toll, elicits no comparable urgency, reflecting caste and class biases in policy and media.
“Sanatan Terrorism”: A Provocative Framing
The term “Sanatan terrorism,” emerging in activist circles, seeks to reframe caste violence as ideologically driven, akin to terrorism, and tied to Sanatana Dharma, a term for Hinduism.
A proposed definition:
Sanatan Terrorism: A polemical label for caste-based violence—murders, rapes, and social exclusion—perpetrated by dominant castes to enforce hierarchical norms, allegedly justified by traditional Hindu values. It casts these acts as systemic, fear-inducing violence, enabled by institutional impunity.
The term resonates with those decrying the state’s inaction. Beena Pallical of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights notes two Dalits are assaulted hourly, yet the issue rarely galvanizes national outrage. However, critics warn that linking caste violence to Hinduism broadly—when many Dalits are Hindu and perpetrators often act for social power, not religious zeal—risks alienating allies. On platforms like X, “Sanatan” is tied to Hindu nationalist groups like Sanatan Sanstha, not caste violence, diluting the term’s focus.
A Tale of Two Crises
Caste violence’s scale—600–800 murders annually versus 50–200 terrorism deaths—belies its lower priority. The former is decentralized, woven into daily life, and perpetuated by dominant castes (e.g., Jats, Thevars) with near impunity. Terrorism, organized and external, prompts robust counterinsurgency. The state’s skewed focus reflects a broader failure to confront India’s social fault lines with the resolve applied to security threats.
Addressing caste violence requires enforcing the SC/ST Act, reforming policing, and dismantling entrenched hierarchies—politically fraught tasks. Terrorism demands diplomacy and intelligence, areas where India has shown mettle. The “Sanatan terrorism” label, while highlighting caste atrocities’ severity, risks polarizing discourse, complicating coalition-building against casteism.
Breaking the Silence
India cannot afford to ignore its silent crisis. As caste violence festers, outstripping terrorism’s toll, the state must match its anti-terrorism zeal with social reform. The term “Sanatan terrorism” may spark debate, but the underlying truth is undeniable: Dalits deserve justice as urgently as terrorism victims. Until then, India’s moral and political ledger remains unbalanced.
Data sourced from NCRB (2018–2022), Global Terrorism Index (2025), and activist reports. For real-time trends, platforms like X offer raw, if fragmented, insights.
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