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 7 May to 13 May 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 Bajrang Dal worker was assaulted and given beheading threats in Jodhpur for posting about The Kerala Story on WhatsApp.

2) A woman who used to work in the GB Pant Hospital of Delhi died days after she was raped and assaulted on her private parts by an accused named Shakir. The 40-year-old woman Shashi Jatav lived with her family consisting of four sons and a daughter in the East Delhi District.

3) Asmitha died consuming poison after being trapped by Sameer. Her family protested in front of the masjid for justice in Telangana.

4) Islamists attacked wrestler Bajrang Punia for supporting Bajrang Dal on social media forcing the wrestler to delete his Instagram post.

5) Biryani shop owner Imran hit Hanuman bhakt with slippers (chappal) for the delay in gas cylinder delivery. The incident was reported from Medak District’s Narsapur in Telangana. The victim has been identified as Hanuman bhakt Lingam Swami.

6) A website depicted Shri Krishna-Radha in a vile and disrespectful manner, all in the name of “Freedom of Expression”.

7) The controversies around the film ‘The Kerala Story’ have no end, amid protests and threat calls, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Jitendra Awhad called for the public hanging of the producers. 

8) A huge protest march was taken out in Ambikapur of Chhattisgarh on May 8, after several Hindu outfits along with Sant Samaj organised a protest ( Sanatan Swabhiman Shankhnaad) and marched towards the collectorate over the thrashing of a DDC (District Development Committee) member and son of a prominent Sant by a Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDOP), in Bagicha block of tribal-dominated Jashpur.

9) DMK MP Senthilkumar was speaking (archived tweet) at Dravida Kazhagam (DK), a certified anti-Hindu organization and the parent body of the Dravidian parties, Salem conference. On this occasion, Senthilkumar constantly attacked Bhagwan Krishna and Prabhu Sri Ram as well as made propagandistic statements against the Mahabharat and Ramayana under the garb of rationality.

10) Madhya Pradesh ATS arrested 11 members linked to Hizb-ut-Tahrir which wanted to establish Islamic rule in Bharat.

11) In a case of love jihad from Uttar Pradesh, a court in Bareilly sentenced a doctor, Iqbal Ahmad to life imprisonment for killing his second wife, Nisha Devi, a resident of Saharanpur with the assistance of his two aides, Muhammad Yaseen and Misaryar Khan in 2021 on the basis of the testimony of his nine-year-old daughter.

12) A case of love jihad has come to the fore in Depalpur, Indore. A Hindu girl was raped by both her husband and brother-in-law when she refused to convert to Islam. The victim told the police that the accused husband Irshad had trapped her in love jihad by portraying himself as Shakti Singh seven years ago.

13) Yet another sickening case of brutal sexual exploitation via Love Jihad has come to light from the Islamist hub of Nuh, Haryana. A Meo Muslim named Mausam Khan faked a Hindu identity of ‘Prem’ to develop a relationship with a Hindu girl studying in BA second year in the Dharuhera area of Rewari district, Haryana.

14) A minor Hindu girl was befriended by a Muslim girl and was about to get married to Muslim youth Faiyaz. However, alert local Hindus prevented her marriage to Faiyaz.

15) On Thursday, May 11, the Indore police informed that a class 12 student identified as Janvi committed suicide in the Hamilton Road neighbourhood in Indore. She was found hanging by one of her family members on Wednesday night. The family alleged that the 18-year-old girl was pushed to take extreme steps after she was harassed and threatened by a coconut vendor named Aman Khatik.

16) Mohammad Talif took Preeti to Dubai and converted her to Islam for ‘Nikah’. However, after 4 years of marriage, she found he has another wife.

17) Two cases of love jihad have emerged from Assam. In the first case, Harej Ali kidnapped a Hindu girl through a love jihad trap and in the second, Abdul trapped a minor Hindu girl and raped her.

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 abduction and forced conversion of 6 Hindu girls in different areas of Sindh province in Pakistan were reported in a single day earlier this month.

2) Even Hindu boys are not spared in Pakistan – they are either raped and killed or murdered in fake encounters.

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 local influential person has been accused of assaulting members of a Hindu family in the district’s Khaliajuri sub-district. The victim’s family claimed that the attack was carried out to evict them from their homes and to occupy their land illegally.

2) A Hindu family is on the run after being threatened with death after their businesses were attacked, vandalized and looted in the Amtali sub-district under the Barguna district of southern Bangladesh. Victim Rameshwar Roy has submitted a written complaint to Amtali police station in this regard.

3) Maa Kali, Shitola & Mahadeva murtis were desecrated in the Mithapukur sub-district under the Rangpur district of northern Bangladesh. A Muslim woman named Kohinoor Begum, wife of Aminur Rahman, was arrested by the police in connection with the desecration of these murtis in a Maa Kali temple. 

4) Three minor Hindu schoolgirls have been abducted over the last 3 months in Bangladesh’s Satkhira district. They are all yet to be traced. 9th grader Trishna Mondal was abducted 6 days ago, 7th grader Puja Rani Sardar was abducted 47 days ago, and 10th grader Sumitra Rani Majumdar was abducted 80 days ago. Police have failed to rescue and recover any of these girls. 

World

1) A Hindu temple in Australia has been vandalised just weeks ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the country on May 23. The front wall of the BAPS Swaminarayan temple in the Rosehill suburb of western Sydney was spray-painted with the message “Declare Modi Terrorist”.

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.