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 30 July to 5 August 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 5-year-old girl who was missing was found dead in a garbage yard in Kerala’s Aluva. Accused Asfaq Alam says he had sold her to one Sakeer Hussain.

2) A shocking case of Love Jihad came to the fore in Haryana’s Palval. A Muslim hid his religion to trap a folk singer into Love Jihad and then he sexually exploited her. It is alleged that the accused Sabir made an obscene video of the victim and is threatening to make it viral on the internet.

3) Kerala police arrested 5 Indian Union Muslim League members over anti-Hindu sloganeering during a protest rally on Manipur violence.

4) Multiple reports of violence were reported from all over the country during the Islamic event of Muharram processions. The roads were covered with bricks and stones, temples were vandalised, and stones were pelted at police and the general public across the country which led to serious injuries, dozens of vehicles were damaged and traffic jams were caused by the anti-social elements who masqueraded as mourners in the Muharram processions.

5) Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra was attacked in Muslim-dominated Mewat’s Nuh on Monday (July 31) leading to communal violence and tension in the area. The procession that started from Haryana’s Gurugram was pelted with stones by Muslims.

6) Shocking forced conversion and love jihad racket has come to the fore from a coaching centre in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar.

7) A couple was arrested for their alleged involvement in religious conversion in the Thathrai locality in the Haidergarh area. Harendra Singh and his wife Priya Singh, residents of Jankipuram locality in Lucknow were arrested on Sunday here for allegedly trying to convert villagers to Christianity. They were booked under Uttar Pradesh’s Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act.

8) Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has condemned the decision of the Buldhana police to book Nilesh Adhav of the Sri Swami Samarth Parivar for performing the pooja on the Samruddhi Marg to ensure that accidents do not take place on the super highway in future. The complaint was filed by Hamid Dabholkar of the Andha Shraddha Nirmulan Samiti under the Anti-Black Magic Act.

9) Tensions are running high in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara where two communities hurled stones at each other in the Luhariya area. According to the girl’s complaint, a boy who reportedly, is in 10th class and belongs to another community, did an indecent act and misbehaved with her. A few accused allegedly mixed urine in her water bottle. 

10) Assam Congress Chief Bhupen Kumar Borah spewed sacrilegious nonsense and trivialized Love Jihad in the same breath. Borah compared Bhagwan Krishna and Devi Rukmini’s marriage to ‘Love Jihad’.

11) A picture of a banner supposedly erected by an alleged Islamist party Manithaneya Makkal Katchi has surfaced on social media in which Hindu Gods Ram, Lakshman and Sita have been derogated while targeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah over Manipur violence.

12) The Madras HC (High Court) passed a comment noting that temple festivals were limited to showing off power rather than devotion. The court made the remark while hearing a petition on 21 July moved by K Thangarasu who sought police protection for conducting the Sri Ruthra Maha Kaliyamman temple.

13) Sun News spreads fake news about sacred Kashi Kalasa Sombu distribution at Annamalai’s yatra in Karaikudi.

14) In MP’s Alirajpur district a 35-year-old missionary hostel is reported to have illegally kept orphans. Authorities suspect conversion activities took place here. They have recovered condoms and surgical equipment.

15) Once again, a Hindu woman lost her life after coming into a relationship with a Muslim man. In a recent case from the Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh, Sonam Sharma was found dead in mysterious circumstances with Rahul alias Mohsin in her flat. Mohsin has been booked on charges of abetment to suicide and others.

16) Video emerges of a man firing during Kanwar Yatra in the Bareilly Firing Case and FIR shows that the attack was started by Muslims.

17) On the morning of 2 August, the dead body of Rita Boro (29) was found in front of her home. When police reached the spot to recover the body, locals were agitated and demanded to arrest a youth named Hasmat Ali. Her husband is a migrant labourer and doesn’t live with her. Meantime, Rita Boro developed an illicit affair with Hasmat Ali. As per sources, Hasmat confessed his crime.

18) On Wednesday (August 2) a Hindu girl filed a complaint at Rahimabad police station in Lucknow accusing a Muslim man named Irfan of posing as a Hindu named Rahul to lure her into his love trap, circulating her private pictures online, and pressuring her to convert to Islam.

19) Sarpanch Association President Rafiq confirmed Jihadi violence against Hindus at Nuh and an eyewitness talked about rioters coming in from Rajasthan too.

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) A Muslim mob assaulted Dr Jeewan, a Hindu doctor in Jarwar, a town in the Ghotki district of Pakistan’s Sindh after being falsely accused of the murder of Allah Dino, a small boy who died from a snake bite. In another attack reported last week from the Ghotki district, this time from Jam Mohalla in Ubauro, a brutal attack left a young Hindu man named Vinod Kumar badly injured. According to witnesses, Vinod Kumar was on his way home when people he didn’t know attacked him and stole his money and cell phone.

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 allegedly attacked a Ma Kali temple in Hathazari of Chattragram district. As per received information, on the night of the 3rd of August, unknown miscreants allegedly attacked the Kali temple at Shikarpur Union under Hathazari Upazila of Chattragram district. Several Murtis were broken and thrown on the floor. Also, the face of Ma Kali Pratima was desecrated.

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 [email protected]. We also solicit support in maintaining the Hindu human rights tracker database.