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 1 January to 7 January 2023, we hope to provide a snapshot of such crimes and hopefully awaken more people around the world to this human rights crisis:
1) Telangana Police on Saturday arrested self-styled ‘atheist’ and ‘rationalist’ Bairi Naresh for making sacrilegious and derogatory remarks against Bhagwan Ayyappa and other Hindu deities.
2) Amit Tomar was fired from his job at V-Bazaar for refusing to wear a Santa Claus cap in UP’s Rajapur Chungi area of Agra.
3) Pujitha (27) was found dead in suspicious circumstances in Telangana’s Shamshabad area of Hyderabad, after being deceived by her live-in partner Dr Mohammed Ali. She was a civil aspirant and died on either December 23 or 24. Police learnt about her death on December 26 after neighbours complained of a foul smell coming from the house.
4) Christian neighbours organise a prayer meeting to disturb Ayyappa bhajan in Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada.
5) At least 6 Hindu civilians, including a 5-year-old boy and another minor child, have been killed and 11 others injured in a terror attack at a village in J&K’s Rajouri district on Sunday evening and an IED explosion today morning.
6) The Haldwani administration began clearing illegal encroachments on railway land following High court orders. Encroachers took to the streets on December 28 demanding the revocation of the court order. Muslim residents offered namaz on the streets and claimed that they would be rendered homeless on account of the court order.
7) On 17 December 2022, a group of Islamists, hijab & burqa-clad ladies included, reportedly harassed, threatened, and pushed around Ayyappa Swamy Sabarimala pilgrims going back to Andhra Pradesh.
8) Pastor, his wife, & 4 others booked under Uttarakhand Religious Freedom Act 2018.
9) The Tamil Nadu HRCE department has been caught misusing temple funds again. Funds belonging to an Amman temple in Thanjavur were used to buy and install toiletware in Thanjavur Joint Commissioner’s office.
10) Krishna Kumar was stabbed to death after opposing the sexual harassment of his school-going cousin sister by local Muslim youth in Bihar’s Vaishali.
11) Arrest warrant was issued against 4 Muslim TMC leaders, including Mamata’s election agent in connection with a post-poll violence probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the murder of BJP worker Debabrata Maity at Nandigram in the district.
12) The Hardoi police have arrested one Kamlesh Kumar, 45, under the provisions of the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act for trying to forcefully convert the ‘guests’ to Christianity.
13) Communist MB Rajesh insults Sri Adi Shankara and says he advocated the ‘cruel caste system’.
14) Supremacist Islamist outfit Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind moves SC against anti-conversion laws of 5 states.
15) Muslim man was caught roaming with a minor Hindu girl at Kukke Subramanya temple. He was booked under POCSO.
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) The case of Hindu man Laloo Kachhi being murdered by a Muslim mob for resisting the abduction of his sister Lali has come to light from Pakistan’s Sindh province. The incident has been reported from Sindh’s Kunti town located in Umerkot District.
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) Minorities were attacked in Bandarban on January 2 (Tweet archived here).
2) Land grabber lease company again set fire and attacked Rengyen Karbari Para (village) of Sorai Union in Lama Upazilla of Bandarban district. In this attack, 7 houses of Mro villagers of Rengyen Karbari Para were completely burnt down and 2 houses were demolished (Tweet archived here).
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.