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 12 February to 18 February 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 controversy has erupted in Tamil Nadu over the security provided to temples after burqa-clad persons were found breaching protocol and taking pictures inside Nellaiappar temple in Tirunelveli. They reportedly fled when Hindu activists reached the temple to inquire. HRCE officials have said that it could have been female students visiting the temple along with their Hindu friends on holiday.
2) Nanded police allowed 8 cow smugglers to escape and arrested & thrashed Gaurakshaks who were stopping the smugglers. The cop who beat up Gaurakshas was identified as Islapur Police’s API (Assistant Police Inspector) Raghunath Shewale. Shewale has been suspended for gross negligence in the discharge of duty.
3) Woman constable Prabha Bharti was shot dead by stalker Mohammad Hasan alias Hasan Arshad who was forcing her into conversion-nikah in Bihar’s Katihar.
4) In a major embarrassment to the local green communist administration, Hindu devotees wore saffron and participated in the Vellayani Temple festival, where the colour was banned. The incident happened at Vellayani Bhadrakali Devi Temple, which comes under the Nemom police station on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram. Pilgrims turned the famous Kaliyoottu Mahotsavam into a sea of saffron. In the meanwhile, Kerala police brutality against Hindus continued at Kerala’s Vellayani Temple.
5) Police arrested a man named Hiralal Jamod for allegedly converting Hindus to Christianity by enticement.
6) Kashmiri Muslims were caught collecting funds in the name of Hindu refugees by alert locals of Karala village in Delhi.
7) Continuing the trend of incessant attacks on Hindu festival celebrations, Islamists in the Palamu district of Jharkhand took objection to Hindu preparations for the upcoming Mahashivratri festival and unleashed vicious stone-pelting.
8) A group of Hindu devotees, VHP functionaries and members among them were restricted by Tamil Nadu police from taking out a procession to a temple. In the scuffle, a functionary’s janeu was allegedly cut off. Police allegedly refused to allow the procession, citing that schools and other places of worship were located on the route.
9) Already married Zakir Ali from UP posed as Sandeep to marry a Jaya Devi in Assam. He posed as Sandeep and lured her into a relationship. They got married and went on to have three children. He abandoned her after she refused to convert to Islam.
10) Akhilesh defended Swami Prasad Maurya and sack 2 party panellists, Roli Tiwari Mishra and Richa Singh, who opposed his diatribe against Ramcharitmanas.
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) Islamists attacked the house of teacher Pritam Sarker in Comilla’s Doudkhandhi on February 13 (Tweet archived here).
2) Shushil Chandra Sarker and his family members were attacked by BNP-Jammat leader Mohammad Bachumia on February 18. The leader wanted to grab Sarker’s land (Tweet archived here).
World
1) Yet another Hindu mandir has been desecrated by Khalistanis operating freely in Canada. This time the Ram Mandir in Mississauga, Ontario province was vandalized with anti-Bharat and pro-Khalistan graffiti.
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.
