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 13 August to 19 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) Christian preachers are forcing Hindu parents to withdraw their wards from a government-aided school in the Tenkasi district. It has come to light that Christian indoctrination in the govt-aided CSI-run school in Tenkasi prompted Hindu parents to stop sending children to school.

2) NIA raided residences of ex-activists of PFI in Kerala’s Malappuram.

3) A minor girl from the Dalit community was murdered after she was allegedly gang-raped in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur district. Subsequently, on the basis of the family’s complaint, the Police filed a case against all five accused. The accused have been identified as Shadab, Farooq, Shafi Raza, Latif, and Lucky Miyan. Four of them have been detained, and are being questioned by the police.

4) Haryana police busted a gang of cow smugglers near Ferozepur Zirka in Nuh, Haryana, on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway. 21 cows were saved in this operation which involved a brief encounter. One of the cow smugglers identified as Taufiq was also arrested.

5) Eleven persons have been booked for forcing a girl to embrace Islam in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli district. The police said on Monday that when the girl resisted, she and her mother were thrashed. Kotwali SHO R.K. Singh said that the girl’s mother alleged in her complaint that her neighbour whose real name was Rizwan concealed his identity and eloped with her 20-year-old daughter on August 10.

6) In a shocking revelation, it was found that the Waqf Board of Tamil Nadu allegedly claimed ownership of Anangakaundanputhur village which is located in the Komarapalayam Panchayat of Sathyamangalam, Erode district in Tamil Nadu. The land allocated to the Arunthathiyar community (Scheduled Caste) has become a source of contention between the community and the Waqf Board.

7) Tension prevailed in Karaswado at Mapusa-North Goa on Monday (August 14) after a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was found desecrated by unknown persons. However, a new statue will be installed by people.

8) Thousands of women staged protests in Manipur over the gang rape of 37-yr-old Meitei woman.

9) On Monday (August 14), a priest was found dead in the Rasal village in the Nagaur district in Rajasthan. According to reports, the priest, identified as 72-year-old Maharaj Mohandas was found lying on the floor of his Ashram with his hands and legs tied and mouth gagged, raising suspicion of murder. He had been reportedly serving in the ashram for the past 14 years.

10) With Congress back in power, the demand for a separate ‘Lingayat religion’ resurfaced in Karnataka.

11) The Haryana Police team and Special Task Force arrested a person identified as Afzal from Firozpur Jhirka for circulating provocative videos and audio on social media and messaging services.

12) Junaid and Chhotu get life for gang-rape and murder of minor Dalit sisters in Lakhimpur Kheri in Sept 2022 while Karimuddin and Arif were sentenced to 6 years.

13) The Prayagraj police in Uttar Pradesh have lodged an FIR against assistant teacher Sarfaraz Hussain at a primary school in a village under Uruwa block for allegedly thrashing Class 1 student Archit.

14) HRCE ‘managed’ historic Sanjeevi Rayar Temple featured in the Rajnikanth-starrer movie is in a dilapidated condition.

15) Tamil Nadu HRCE accused of selling temple cows for butchering in Kerala.

16) A sub-inspector of Samastipur Police who was injured while chasing cattle smugglers succumbed to injuries in hospital on Tuesday. Nand Kishore Yadav, the incharge of the Mohanpur outpost in Samastipur district sustained a gunshot injury on his forehead after buffalos smugglers open fire on the police team.

17) Fanatic Christian missionary Daniel Stephen Courney who was deported in 2017 found to be in Manipur.

18) Hindu man was beaten by a Muslim Mob for narrating Gadar 2 story to his family in UP’s Badaun.

19) There is alleged discrimination against Hindus at Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Offices.

20) A sensational case of love jihad has come to light in the Bikapur police station area of Ramnagari Ayodhya district of Uttar Pradesh. A Muslim man named Shahnawaz, a resident of Ayodhya married a Hindu woman named Malti by claiming to be Dilip. The victim was a widow and mother of two children. A few days after their wedding, he tried to arrange the circumcision of her son.

21) The Ghaziabad police arrested one Rahis Ahmadan for attacking a 20-year-old Hindu man who was riding a bike with his Muslim colleague. Rajat Kumar was attacked by a group of bike-borne Muslim men near Hapur Chungi when he was travelling on a bike with a hijab-clad woman, who was his colleague.

22) In a startling incident that has ignited a debate among social media circles, a viral video has emerged capturing members of an evangelical group engaging in religious conversion efforts near the western entrance of the renowned Bhagwan Padmanabhaswamy Temple.

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 16-year-old girl, Maryam Kolhi, was abducted recently in the Mirpur Khas district of Sindh, Pakistan. In the town of Pithoro, the Hindu girl Maryam was being dropped to school by her brother Ramesh. Armed neighbourhood residents Muhammad Kumbhar, Yusuf Nohri, and Mushtaq Leghari confronted the brother and abducted Maryam.

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 teacher abducted a minor Hindu girl (11) student, who is a student at his School in Chattagram. Following the complaint, the Police launched an investigation and arrested the teacher Muhammad Manjurul Islam(34). This heinous incident was reported from the Nandankanan area under Kotwali Police Station of Chattagram town.

World

1) Bharatiya-origin CISCO engineers were voluntarily cleared by the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) of ‘caste discrimination‘ charges in April this year. One of the victims, Sundar Iyer opened up about pseudo ‘Dalit activists’ fuelling hatred through fake caste discrimination charges while speaking at CasteCon23.

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.