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 11 June to 17 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) Maulana Nijamuddin, who impregnated a married Hindu woman, converted her to Islam and got her raped by his relatives, was arrested. Five others have also been booked in the case.
2) In a dreadful case reported from the Khalari region of Jharkhand, a minor girl committed suicide after she was cheated on and impregnated by a person identified as Golu Ansari. The incident is said to be a Love Jihad case as the accused had posed a Hindu person to get in touch with the victim girl.
3) In a shocking incident, an eatery in Gujarat’s Navasi was found selling beef samosas calling them chicken and mutton samosas. Recently, the state police booked two persons named Ahmad Mohammad and Chacha Ajim Bhai for selling Samosas filled with beef stuffing in Navsari’s Dabhel region of the state.
4) A case was registered against a Muslim youth who offered namaz in a temple in Uttar Pradesh’s (UP) Hapur. Later the temple was purified.
5) Another case of alleged ‘love jihad‘ came to light from the Karawal Nagar area of Delhi on 10 June 2023. A Muslim youth named Shahrukh allegedly concealed his identity to trap a Hindu girl. He introduced himself as a Hindu and befriended a Hindu girl and allegedly raped her.
6) In a case of love jihad Muslim in-laws boast “Hindu girl has changed her religion and became Muslim” in the reception invitation card of Madhya Pradesh’s (MP) Jabalpur.
7) In New Delhi, a shocking case of forcing religious conversion has emerged at a night shelter situated in the Chandni Mahal area. Following a complaint filed by the shelter’s caretaker, the police registered an FIR and arrested the accused individual Mohammad Kaleem. He created 5 Whatsapp groups where he shared Islamic propaganda materials to radicalise youths, and threatened to behead those who would not convert to Islam.
8) Three persons including the principal of Damoh-based Ganga Jamna Higher Secondary School, where a controversy erupted over Hindu girl students allegedly being forced to wear hijab-like headscarves, have been arrested. The arrested individuals have been identified as Afsa Sheikh (school principal), Anas Atahar (mathematics teacher) and Rustam Ali (security guard).
9) In the latest such hate crime, 52-year-old Rajesh Dhar Dubey was brutally mowed down by a Muslim taxi driver whom Rajesh’s family had hired for a wedding. Amjad reportedly killed Rajesh for praising Yogi-Modi.
10) A man has been arrested in a case of unlawful religious conversion in Uttar Pradesh’s Siddharth Nagar district. The man befriended a married woman belonging to a Dalit family on Facebook, eloped with her and converted her to Islam.
11) Two people are detained in Udham Sing in Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand, for violating the anti-conversion law, according to police. The names of the two people who were arrested are Vikas Kumar and Ankit Kumar. Both of them are residents of Bareilly.
12) Ashif Manan was caught clicking derogatory images of a Hindu medical student and forcing the victim to convert to Islam in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun.
13) A shocking case has come to light in Surat where a delivery boy identified as Manish Prahaldbhai Chaudhari was threatened with death for writing Kattar Hindu on his bike. The boy was threatened by the father of a Muslim girl when he went to the girl’s house to deliver a parcel.
14) Manohar Lal (21) was hacked into pieces by his Muslim girlfriend’s family in Himachal Pradesh’s (HP) Chamba. Police have denied communal angle.
15) A Bengaluru-based woman was cheated by a Muslim man named Mudasir who posed as a Hindu on a dating app. He duped her of Rs 1 lakh money and had a physical relationship with her on the promise of marriage.
16) A Muslim CRPF Jawan tries to disrupt RSS Shakha in Chhattisgarh’s Durg.
17) Ekta Kapoor’s soft porn OTT show Gandi Baat mocks Maa Lakshmi.
17) In the Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh, a case has come to the fore where a married woman named Reena committed suicide on Saturday (10 June) by consuming acid after five-six months of harassment by a Muslim man named Zakir.
18) Rishu and Anand were attacked with a knife by Anas, Saqib and another minor over the Gilli-Danda dispute. The police arrested two accused and are searching for the third.
19) Noor Alam posed as Rahul to lure a Hindu Janjatiya girl and tricked her into a court marriage in Chhattisgarh’s Balrampur.
20) Mohammad Nafees tried raping a cow due to which angry Hindus shaved his head and blackened his face in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani.
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) Minor girl Sohana Sharma Kumari was abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and married off to a Muslim man on June 2. Finally, the court allowed her to return to her family but took no action taken against her abductors.
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 Medical Student from West Bengal became a victim of Love Jihad in Bangladesh. Amrita Dutta who came in contact with Abdul Wakil converted to Islam and became Mehjabin Chaudhury in 2022 to marry him. She has filed a case against Wakil who left her despite knowing that she is pregnant.
2) After one month, police are yet to recover a minor Hindu girl who went missing from school. Although a missing complaint is filed at the Police station, the family alleged that the police is not doing anything to recover their daughter.
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 emailing to [email protected]. We also solicit support in maintaining the Hindu human rights tracker database.
