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 27 August to 2 September 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) “Hinduism is not a religion, it is just a hoax”, said SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya who is known for spewing venom against Hindus repeatedly.

2) A case of love jihad has come to light from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh where a man named Zaheer posed as Rahul to lure a minor Hindu girl into a love trap and went on to rape the girl. The victim girl came to know about the original identity of the culprit when his wife Rukhsar Bano contacted the victim and told her about Zaheer being the real name of Rahul. The accused Zaheer was arrested after a complaint was lodged with the police.

3) While the entire nation was celebrating the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3, some elements encashed this opportunity to express their hatred towards the nation and the Hindus. An unfortunate incident happened at Chittorgarh’s Mewar University, where Kashmiri students attacked other students, as they were celebrating the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission. Engineering student Ayush Sharma is reported to be critical after being attacked.

4) Teacher Farooq Ahmed was arrested for beating a Hindu student over the Jai Shri Ram slogan in J&K’s Kathua.

5) At least 12 houses belonging to the poor Janajatiya families had been burnt to ashes with all other belongings including food and clothes in Chopra of North Dinajpur district of West Bengal. Land mafias backed by local TMC MLA Hamidul Rahman attacked the poor Janajatiya families to evict them, alleged local BJP workers. 

6) In Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj, Mohammad Yusuf, Mohsin & two others beat Satyam Sharma to death. The victim’s family says the accused were harassing the boy’s sister but police denied the same.

7) According to reports, a WhatsApp group was created to target Muslim girls hanging out with Hindu boys and blackmail families. Vadodara police nabbed Imtiaz, Syed, and Sahil in this regard.

8) On August 29 (Tuesday), a 93-year-old priest was murdered in a Shiva temple in the Tonk district of Rajasthan. The deceased victim has been identified as Mahant Siyaram Das who was a priest at Bhuriya Mahadev Baba Dham Temple in Diggi town.

9) Auto driver Ahmed Sheikh was held for killing 17-year-old Awhad who was considered her brother by Sheikh’s wife.

10) Five gangsters identified as Bilal Gani, Mohd. Sameer, Sohail, Mohd. Junaid, Adnan shot dead Amazon senior manager Harpreet Gill in ‘road rage’ in Delhi’s Bhajanpura.

11) Two minor Hindu girls are allegedly trafficked to Haryana, family members alleged. The families already filed a complaint at Hili Police Station. The incident has been reported from Chapahat village under Hili Police Station of South Dinajpur district of West Bengal. 

12) Chess prodigy Praggnanandhaa was abused for wearing the Vibhuti after his loss in the FIDE Championship.

13) As per the reports, Holy Family Convent School, a private school in Bareilly, first stopped students from celebrating Raksha Bandhan in school and the next day, when the students attended the class wearing Rakhis, the administration chopped them off.

14) In the Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh, a shocking case of love jihad and torture has come to the fore wherein a Hindu girl from Lucknow was converted to Islam by a Muslim man named Abu Hamid Ansari and after their Nikah, she was asked to become his father’s wife too. Upon refusing to give in to their bizarre demand, the woman was brutally assaulted by her husband’s family members and was thrown out of the house.

15) “Sanatana Abolition Conclave” to be held in Chennai to discuss the destruction of Hindu Dharma.

16) In Mumbai a police team was pelted with stones by a mob as it reached Irani Basti to nab history-sheeter Firoz Khan.

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) Four Islamists gang-raped Tumpa Roy (26) on 24 August. The victim booked a motorcycle for her own purposes. The driver who is the main accused Muhammad Imran (30) took the woman to a lonely area instead of her destination. Imran was arrested but the other accused Muhammad Sohag Mir (34), Amin Khan (40) and Muhammad Rakib Shikdar (25) are absconding.

2) Advocate Madhusudan Deb, who is a well-known lawyer living in Dhaka Matijhil Colony, was mercilessly beaten along with his son and wife on 30 August by Islamists. The family was reportedly assaulted due to a brawl his son got into the previous day while playing football.  

3) Police arrested a minor muslim boy named Muhammad Maniruzzaman (16), who is a madrasa student, for breaking into a mandir at Dokhla market of Madhubagchala Union under Madhupur Police Station of Tangail district and vandalizing murtis.

World

1) Hindu-American town council candidate Sarika Bansal’s campaign was faced with a racist attack. She was shocked to find her face “scratched off” and replaced with a Black person’s photo in one of her campaign signs.

2) America-based evangelists & Islamists join hands via NAMTA, FIACONA, IAMC and others to target Bharat and Hindus over Manipur.

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.