Attacks on Hindus and Hindu Dharma, both in Bharat and overseas, are frequent and unrelenting. In many regions of the world, this persecution is like a genocide slowly unfolding before our eyes. For decades, the world has ignored the actual depth and breadth of these attacks, driven by disturbing anti-Hindu bigotry. From murders, forced conversions, land grabs, assault on festivals, desecration of temples and murtis, hate speech, and sexual violence to institutionalized & legal discrimination, Hindus are facing an increasing assault on their very existence along with an unprecedented Hindu hatred.
In this weekly summary for the period from 28 May to 3 June 2023, we hope to provide a snapshot of such crimes and hopefully awaken more people around the world to this human rights crisis:
Bharat
1) A Muslim mob comprising 20-30 youths started chasing Bhavesh Sunhare and Nasreen Sultana in the Tukoganj area of Madhya Pradesh’s (MP) Indore after noticing a Kalava on Bhavesh’s wrist and Nasreen’s hijab. Both Bhavesh and Nasreen are third-year MBBS students. Two cases have been registered and six accused persons identified as Shoaib, Shavez Lala, Muzzamin, Amin Lala, Saif, and Arbaaz were arrested.
2) Ten more cases of attacks on Hindu-Muslim couples by Islamists under the imaginary ‘Bhagwa love trap’ as the bigotry takes root across Bharat.
3) Police recovered 37 buffaloes from an Assam-bound container and arrested driver Muhammad Alam, a resident of Moradabad of Uttar Pradesh.
4) On Thursday, May 25, 2023, a shocking incident of gang rape of a minor girl from the Dalit community unfolded in the Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh. Tahir and Tasavvur were arrested.
5) Police arrested 5 Muslim youths for torture on a Janajatiya woman and attacking a temple of the Janajatiya community in the Jambani area under the Jhargram district of West Bengal. The arrested youths are Sheikh Rahman, Sheikh Akram, Abdul Rawan Khan, Akram Khan and Sajjad Khan.
6) The Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments(HRCE) department has outdone itself by allegedly building toilets in the temple complex of Thiruvottiyur Thyagaraja Swamy temple in Chennai’s Thiruvottiyur.
7) In a deeply distressing incident in Delhi’s Shahbad Dairy area, 16-year-old Sakshi was subjected to a horrifying murder by Sahil Khan, someone she considered a friend.
8) Karimganj police of Assam arrested a Muslim youth named Faruk Uddin Laskar for the abduction and rape of a Hindu woman. Police also recovered the victim.
9) An Executive Officer of a temple in Telangana used the temple pond as a swimming pool during swami’s abhisheka. The video of him swimming in the pond even as the pujaris were holding the murti for the ritual has gone viral on social media.
10) A distressing incident involving love jihad has come to the fore from the Shahjahanpur area in Uttar Pradesh. A 23-year-old Dalit woman, identified as Seema Gautam, was trapped in a love affair, raped, forcefully converted to Islam and later poisoned to death. Two accused, namely Mohd Naved and Farhan Khan have been taken into custody. The police are on the lookout for the third accused, Mustaquim.
11) Bihar Police arrested a man identified as Nishant Raza for posing as a Hindu individual and blackmailing two Hindu women after sexual harassment. The Police recovered two identity cards from the accused, one of which was that of a Hindu person and the other one was of a Muslim person.
12) Deepu, a resident of Udhampur and the sole provider for his visually impaired father and brother was brutally shot dead on the night of May 29. The heinous act has been claimed by a terrorist outfit believed to be linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba.
13) In Andhra Pradesh, Pallavi and her toddler were chased from the house by her Christian husband and in-laws after she refused to follow Christianity.
14) In a case of rape and murder, a 15-year-old Hindu girl was gang-raped by Islamists, and in order to get away with the accusation they threw her body into a well. The accused in this case have been identified as Mohammed Kaif Ansari and Mohammed Aashiq Ansari.
15) A case of love jihad has been registered in the Versova police station of Mumbai against one Tanveer Akhtar Khan of Ranchi who blackmailed a model Manvi Raj Singh who works in Mumbai.
16) On 28 May 2023, the Waluj MIDC police of Waluj Mahanagar in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district in Maharashtra arrested Muskan Sheikh, her mother Munni, and her friend Shahrukh Sayyad for abducting and beating a Hindu married woman Nisha Ingole and trying to forcibly marry her to an old unidentified man.
17) A Hindu man was viscously attacked by a frenzied mob of Islamists for dropping his Muslim classmate home. The victim Vinay Kumar, a resident of Visvesvaraya Nagar in Bhadravati and the Muslim girl hailing from Qalandar Nagar in Bhadravathi studied together at the Paramedical College.
18) A reported love jihad case involving two Muslim youths came to light in the hill town of Purola in Uttarkashi, 145 km from Dehradun. According to the media reports, a minor girl was reported to be abducted by two youths from the Muslim community in the Purola region of Uttarkashi.
19) In the Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh, a love jihad case has come to the fore wherein a Muslim youth named Mohammad Alim posed as a Hindu named Anand, and wore a kalava to lure a Hindu girl.
20) FIR was registered by Madhya Pradesh Police against a Children’s Home and others over a complaint filed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) under the Juvenile Justice Act and Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act. The Hindu children, who belonged to SC/ST community were allegedly pressurised by the school administration to offer Christian prayers.
21) Massive tensions continued in the Sangamner region of the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra after a mob of around 100 to 150 people attacked 6 Hindu persons with swords and sharp iron rods, resulting in severe injuries. The victims have been identified as Gokul Dighe, Ravindra Gadekar, Babasaheb Thorat, Jitendra Shinde, Ajay Thorat, and Ganesh Kakad and they have been shifted to a private hospital for treatment. According to the reports, the incident is said to have taken place in the Jorve village of Sangamner city on Sunday.
22) A 27-year-old girl recently lodged a written complaint with the Khordha Model Police station of Odisha’s Khordha District alleging that a youth brainwashed her into converting to Islam with the false promise of marriage after a relationship of eight years.
23) Four Hindu temples, one of them 100 years old, and 12 murtis were found vandalized in UP’s Bulandshahr. Locals have demanded strict action against the perpetrators.
24) A minor Hindu girl from a nomadic tribe who was abducted four years ago was rescued (archived tweet) from Pune District’s Manchar. The Maharashtra police registered an FIR against Javed Sheikh and his family. Furthermore, Javed Sheikh was arrested for abducting, sexually assaulting, and forcibly marrying a minor girl back then.
25) Rikshaw driver Arif Mohammed abused a woman and unzipped himself while claiming police can’t do anything. He was arrested by the Vapi police.
26) In yet another case of grooming jihad, a Hindu woman hailing from the Hapur district in Uttar Pradesh has accused a man named Wasim of intimidation, rape and forced conversion. The accused is said to be a Delhi Police Constable.
27) A Hindu woman in Rajasthan’s Udaipur was forced to convert to Islam and wear a burqa by one Mohammad Asif who threatened to murder the woman like Delhi cases for refusing to comply.
28) Navapura police in Vadodara, Gujarat have arrested one Muhammad Hussain Sheikh on charges of rape and intimidation. The victim, a married Hindu woman who lived in Hussain’s neighbourhood, alleged that the accused threatened her and her son’s life. He also threatened her with an acid attack and attempted to convert her to Islam.
29) A serious case of love jihad came to light from Tripura. Sohel Miyan trapped a minor Hindu girl in love with a fake Hindu name and then gang-raped her with friends. The incident happened in Tripura’s Udaypur.
30) Illegal Mazar was built after the AAP councillor won the polls but a Hindu temple was not allowed at the place where Sahil Khan killed Sakshi.
Pakistan
Abduction, rape, forced conversion, and marriage of minor Hindu girls are common occurrences in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. At least 1000 minority girls suffer such sex slavery every year in Sindh province alone. Apart from this, Pakistani Hindus face systemic and institutionalized discrimination and neglect, such as frequent attacks on Hindu temples, demonization of education curriculum, police and judicial antipathy, denial of fundamental rights, and even untouchability. This latest instance of the brutal rape and murder of a Bheel woman in Pakistan is yet another proof of the pitiable condition of Hindu minorities in Pakistan.
1) Samrat Kumar was abducted for ransom in Kandhkot-Kashmore district’s Mirzapur. His family told the police that dacoits riding a motorcycle had kidnapped the boy for ransom and taken him away into the gangs-infested riverine area.
2) In yet another ghastly case of abduction and forced conversion of a minor Hindu girl in Pakistan, according to news reports, a 9-year-old Hindu girl was kidnapped from her house earlier this month by a 55-year-old man in Sindh province who proceeded to marry her. He is also charged with converting her to Islam against her will.
Bangladesh
Attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh are relentless and designed to cleanse the religious minority from the country gradually. According to a study by Prof. Abul Barakat of Dhaka University, no Hindus will be left in Bangladesh by 2050 due to systemic and institutionalized persecution. Temple desecration, land grabbing, mob attacks after false blasphemy charges, rape/forced conversion of women, and hate speech are tools used to intimidate and drive Hindus out.
1) A case has been filed against 10 people for assaulting and looting the family of Parimal Sarkar in the Debidwar sub-district, Cumilla (former Comilla) District of south-eastern Bangladesh. The accused in the case are local union council Chairman Kamruzzaman Masud, his younger brother Md. Aktaruzzaman, Kazi Billal, Kazi Helal, Jaidal Hossain, Shaheen Islam, Zahirul Islam, Didarul Alam Faiz, Gaffar and Mamun.
2) Naim Sheikh abducted a minor Hindu girl in Chitalmari Upozila of Bagerhat district. Her mother alleged that on 31 May at night, she and other members of the family were going to a neighbour’s house to take shelter as their house is damaged due to a storm when her daughter Bithi Mondal was abducted.
3) Consistent attacks on Hindu temples in Muslim-dominated Bangladesh are not stopping. This time Islamic radical youth broke the Murtis of 3 Hindu temples in the Patuakhali district. Police arrested a Muslim youth named Muhammad Russel.
Most hate crimes are driven by anti-Hindu bigotry encoded in certain religious teachings and political ideologies. While the anti-Hindu hate in Islamic countries is evident, there is another subtler form of anti-Hindu sentiment within institutions and the public sphere of ostensibly secular states (like India) that provides an enabling environment for Hinduphobia and hate crimes. This subtle, everyday discrimination can be missed unless one studies prevailing laws and patterns. The gradual ban on firecrackers during Diwali is a good example – it might seem pollution-related on the surface. Still, the double standards at play become apparent when one looks at the larger picture of restrictions on Hindu festivals and the lack of sound reasoning behind the ban.
We request all readers to share other anti-Hindu hate crimes that we might have missed in this period in the comments below or by dropping an email to [email protected]. We also solicit support in maintaining the Hindu human rights tracker database.
