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 24 to 30 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) A team of the UP (Uttar Pradesh) Special Task Force arrested two active members of a gang run by jailed serial killer brothers Salim, Rustam and Sohrab. The accused have been identified as Salman alias Aftab Malik of Khadra and Mohammed Arshad Siddiqui of Madeyganj. They also admitted to stabbing Mansi Yadav to death and dumping her body in the river during interrogation. She was killed on 4 September.

2) Islamists Anees and Azad who attacked lady cop Sumtira Patel, had groomed minor Hindu girls for conversion-nikah.

3) A case of Gaming Jihad was reported from UP’s Kanpur District where a Punjabi woman who met Islamists via a gaming app, started practising Islam. A case was registered against 11 persons in the matter.

4) Assam’s Goalpara Police arrested four persons for stealing 250-year-old Murtis of Radha and Krishna from the famous Buduchar Satra of Goalpara district. The detained are Rofiq, Hasanur, Mohinur and Anuj. The Police are searching for the stolen murtis.

5) Students of Dada Patil College were reprimanded and punished by Principal Sanjay Nagarkar simply because they chanted Jai Shri Ram. Dada Patil College is located in Ahmednagar’s Karjat and is run by Rayat Shikshan Sanstha. Legal Right Observatory (LRO), an indigenous legal rights body, highlighted (archived tweet) that in addition to Nagarkar, a police inspector of Ahmednagar police also threatened the students with tadipari notice if they dared to chant Jai Sri Ram again.

6) Varun Pradhan was stabbed by Salman over rupees three thousand debt in Delhi.

7) Prominent Hindu Munnani leader Mahesh, from Arani in Tamil Nadu, was arrested by local police amid allegations of making derogatory remarks against DMK Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin. The arrest follows a complaint lodged by DMK District Head AC Mani, who accused Mahesh of delivering offensive statements during the Vinayaka Chathurthi celebrations held on September 22.

8) Protests broke out over curbs on immersion of Sri Ganesh murtis in Hyderabad’s Hussain Sagar.

9) Aas Mohammad, who posed as ‘Sonu’ to trap a minor Hindu girl living in Delhi Cantt for conversion-nikah, was arrested from Sambhal in UP.

10) In a tragic incident, a 26-year-old Dalit woman, Teja Sri, who worked as a beedi worker, lost her life on Monday (25 September) after succumbing to severe injuries inflicted upon her by her ex-lover in Jakranpally, Nizamabad, Telangana. It is alleged that the accused, a 26-year-old chicken shop worker from the same neighbourhood, used to be in a relationship with Teja Sri. The accused is identified as Imran/Ghouse/Toufiq by different news channels.

11) A formal complaint was filed against the Missionary-run Methodist Rural High School (MRHS) for forcing Hindu students to visit the Church and eat meat. The complaint further alleges that the school has been involved in the purported conversion of underage Hindu students.

12) Nara Bhuvaneswari, the wife of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president Chandrababu Naidu, visited St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Rajahmundry on 27 September to offer special prayers for the release of her husband, who is currently in judicial custody. She was accompanied by her daughter-in-law.

13) In a harrowing incident that unfolded in the Pihani Kotwali area of Hardoi, a 15-year-old minor girl attempted self-harm by hanging herself with a dupatta from a ceiling fan in her own home. This desperate act followed a molestation during the Ganesh Visarjan Yatra in Pihani town on Monday evening by a Muslim male, Mohammed Afzal. Fortunately, the girl’s mother was present in the house at the time of the incident and intervened in time to prevent the tragedy.

14) On Wednesday, September 27, the mother of a BJP worker was allegedly beaten to death by Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporters in the Bangaon area in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district. The deceased was identified as Kanan Roy (62), the mother of a local BJP worker named Jayant Roy.

15) As per reports, unidentified miscreants broke the Murti of Maa Manasa at Mahakurpara village of Ramchandrakhali under the jurisdiction of Basanti Police Station of South 24 Parganas district. Head of Ma Manasa Murti had been cut. Earlier, several posters with a call for the slaughter of Hindus were also seen in different places in the Sonakhali area under the same police station area.

16) In Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, a teacher has been accused of getting a Hindu student beaten by a Muslim classmate. The incident occurred in St. Anthony’s School in Dugawar village of Asmoli police station area of ​​Sambhal district. The Hindu student’s father alleged that a teacher named Shaista ordered a Muslim student to beat their son. He said that the teacher got their son beaten saying that he was a Hindu.

17) A video of anti-Hindu ‘animal rights activist’ Ambika Shukla, sister of Maneka Gandhi, making her dogs defecate on temple premises in Delhi has emerged on social media. She reportedly refused to not bring her dogs to the temple despite repeated requests from devotees.

18) The DMK government’s School Education minister said that the mention of Sanatana Dharma in school textbooks will be removed soon. This move comes after many pointed out that the textbook says Sanatana and Hindu Dharma are one and the same following Udayanidhi Stalin’s call to “eradicate Sanatana”. Dravidar Kazhagam had earlier demanded that the part mentioning Sanatana should be removed as it is against “scientific temper”.

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) After 16 days, the Police arrested 10 Islamists for the murder of Uttam Barman (68) and his wife Kajoli Rani Barman (55) in Chandpur. Among the arrested, Sohag Munsi and Mizan were the main conspirators behind the crime. They informed the police that they planned to grab the property of the deceased. Also, the arrested confessed their crimes.

2) Ahead of the biggest dharmic festival of the Hindu minority community, Bangladesh has been witnessing continuous attacks on Hindu temples and murti vandalism. As per reports, local Hindu minorities were making arrangements for the upcoming Durga Puja in the temple at Charpara village under Gopinathpur union of Gopalganj district. On the morning of 28 September, they found that the Durga murti was vandalised. Also, the vigrahas of Maa Laxmi and Maa Saraswati were damaged.

World

1) Hindu-American Texas county commissioner candidate Taral V Patel was racially targeted.

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.