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Last updated 29 July 2026

Communal incidents in India

Number of communal or religious rioting incidents recorded in police records each year (NCRB).

272incidents(2023)

lower is better

2015 → 2023: 789 → 272

Explore the interactive chart, with breakdowns by state →

By state35 states, 2023

State / UTIncidents
Bihar107
Odisha44
Maharashtra27
Jharkhand19
Karnataka18
Madhya Pradesh18
Haryana11
NCT of Delhi7
Tamil Nadu6
Gujarat5
Chhattisgarh4
Telangana2
Assam1
Kerala1
Rajasthan1
West Bengal1
Andhra Pradesh0
Arunachal Pradesh0
Goa0
Himachal Pradesh0
Manipur0
Meghalaya0
Mizoram0
Nagaland0
Punjab0
Sikkim0
Tripura0
Uttar Pradesh0
Uttarakhand0
Andaman & Nicobar Islands0
Chandigarh0
Jammu & Kashmir0
Ladakh0
Lakshadweep0
Puducherry0

Read Reproduce this view. This figure is published directly in the linked source table. Source: NCRB CII (2015-2023) · NCRB CII (2015-2023) · NCRB CII (2015-2023) · NCRB CII (2015-2023) · NCRB CII (2015-2023). Each value is computed from the data file · transform code; every row records its own source and method.

Bottom line

India's official tally of communal or religious rioting incidents was 272 in 2023, down from a recent peak of 869 in 2016, though the count swings sharply from year to year, it was 857 in 2020. Read this number with care: it captures only incidents the police formally recorded under one narrow crime-records category, it is widely regarded as an undercount, and it is not broken down by which community was affected.

How to read the chart

The chart tracks the National Crime Records Bureau's annual count of communal and religious rioting incidents from 2015 to 2023; lower is better, but the line is only as complete as official recording. This is one specific NCRB sub-category, so it misses incidents logged under other heads or never registered, and unlike the rest of this dashboard it is not split by religion. The By state tab shows where recorded incidents cluster.

Why it matters

Communal violence falls hardest on minorities, and the threat of it shapes where Muslims feel safe to live, work and worship. An honest, complete count would be one of the most important measures on this dashboard; the distance between what is recorded here and what communities actually experience is itself part of the story.

Key stakeholders
  • National Foundation for Communal Harmony: An autonomous body under the Home Ministry that promotes communal harmony and supports the rehabilitation and education of children orphaned in communal, caste or terrorist violence.
  • National Human Rights Commission: The statutory commission that inquires into human-rights violations, including in communal incidents, and recommends remedies and compensation.
  • National Commission for Minorities: A statutory body under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 that monitors the constitutional and legal safeguards of the notified minority communities.

About this measurement

Definition. Number of communal/religious rioting incidents recorded by NCRB under IPC Sec.147-151 (rioting), specifically the "Communal/Religious" sub-classification. National annual totals (2015-2023) plus state-level breakdown for 2022 and 2023.

Methodology. NCRB Crime in India, Table 1.2 row 23.1 'Communal/Religious' rioting. National series 2015-2023, compiled across multiple Crime in India volumes (CII 2017 through 2023, each carrying a multi-year national panel); state-level breakdown for 2022 and 2023. Incident counts only, with no religion of victim/perpetrator in the published table.

Caveat: several states stopped recording 'communal' as a separate crime category since ~2017, which deflates the national total over time. Civil-society compilations typically report higher counts.

Sources. NCRB CII (2015-2023) · NCRB CII (2015-2023) · NCRB CII (2015-2023) · NCRB CII (2015-2023) · NCRB CII (2015-2023). Download CSV: communal-incidents-govt.csv.

Read How to reproduce. This figure is published directly in the linked source table.

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