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 9 April to 15 April 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) Shakur Khan (30) raped and burned alive a married Hindu SC woman in Rajasthan’s Balotra.

2) In a major development, the Mumbai Police SIT has arrested a student of IIT-B in connection with the alleged suicide of a Dalit student Darshan Solanki, here on Sunday, officials said. The accused has been identified as one Arman Khatri, a batchmate of Solanki, and living on the same floor of the IIT-B Students hostel.

3) Dilkhush Zarra raped a 10-year-old in the Dagarua police station area, in the Purnea district of Bihar around the time of jumma namaz on Friday. When the child started bleeding profusely, he stuffed sand in her genitals. The accused has now been arrested.

4) The public beat up a person named Imran Wasimuddin Farokhi at the bus stop in Selu town located in Maharashtra’s Parbhani District. He reportedly sexually harassed a girl on the bus and was caught by the angry public who learned of the incident. Selu police took the molester into custody but there is no confirmation of his arrest or a case being registered against him in the matter.

5) Depressed by Shamshad’s harassment, a Hindu girl committed suicide in Sachendi, Kanpur. UP Police say he is a ‘minor’.

6) Vishu Bhati, son of Ramveer, was shot dead by masked Muslim men on Sunday evening in Palra village, Hastinapur block of Meerut district, UP.

7) A Hindu customer was asked by a D-Mart employee in Maharashtra’s Karjat (a suburb of Mumbai) to wipe off the tika/tilak he was sporting. As soon as Bajrang Dal activists learned of the incident they went to D-Mart and confronted the employee. 

8) In Damoh, Madhya Pradesh, an unidentified criminal has vandalized a Bajrang Bali murti. Following this incident, local Hindus are angry and upset. This apparent hate crime took place on April 8, 2023.

9) The co-owner and manager of a resto-bar were arrested for playing a dubbed video of the TV serial Ramayana on a big screen inside the resto-bar in Noida, an official said on Tuesday. The video was played at Lord of the Drinks resto-bar located in the Gardens Galleria mall in Noida. In the viral video, the characters of Lord Ram and demon king Ravana of the serial were shown with modern music playing in the backdrop.

10) A report on Islamist violence during Ram Navami in West Bengal (WB) by a fact-finding committee has revealed shocking details. Patna High Court’s (HC) retired Chief Justice Narsimha Reddy led the six-member committee. The committee confirmed the role of Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and the Bengal police in encouraging Islamist violence.

11) Neo-Ambedkarite Youtuber Arun Gautam insulted seer Swami Rambhadracharya by calling him a ‘Mentally disabled, goon, terrorist’.

12) Aishwarya, who was forced to become Aaysha by Irshad, returned home after seven years and filed a complaint against Irshad.

13) In Odisha’s Sambalpur, a bike rally organised by ‘Hanuman Jayanti Samanyoy Samiti and Bajrang Dal came under violent stone pelting when it was passing near a masjid in the Dhanupali area, triggering clashes among two groups on Wednesday evening, April 12.

14) A Muslim mob assaulted Siddhant Tiwari for playing Hanuman Chalisa in UP’s Banda.

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) Meena Kolhi who was kidnapped at gunpoint, forcibly converted to Islam and ‘married’ to one Iqbal Bhambhro 14 months ago in Khipro town of Sanghar district in Sindh province, managed to escape her kidnappers and return to her parents.

2) Narsingh Kolhi, a Hindu rickshaw driver in the town of Matli, district Badin, Sindh province of Pakistan was brutally murdered. According to sources, Narsingh Kolhi went missing and the next day his tortured body was found.

3) Khemi Kohli, daughter of Prabhu Kohli was allegedly kidnapped by one Abdul Qadir Jamaili in Odero Lal village, Matiari district of Sindh. She was then forced to convert to Islam and marry her abductor.

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) Hindu leader murdered in Shatkira’s Shamnagar (Tweet archived here).

2) A business institution belonging to the minority community was grabbed by Muslims in Shatkira’s Shamnagar (Tweet archived here).

3) Land belonging to minority Hindus was grabbed in Barguna Sadar for constructing a model mosque (Tweet archived here).

4) Hindu fisherman Sanjoy Shil was brutally attacked by Mohammad Salauddin at Barishal’s Bakerganj (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.