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 08 October to 14 October 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) RJD terrorist-don-politician Mohammad Shahabuddin’s son Osama threatened Arjun Yadav to grab his land.

2) Kamduni gang-rape accused death sentence was commuted as the court held that the injuries sustained by the victim were not ‘extensive and brutal.’ The bench comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Ajay Kumar Gupta commuted the death sentences of Saiful Ali and Ansar Ali to life imprisonment and acquitted Amin Ali, who faced the death penalty as well, citing a lack of evidence.

3) Thrissur Vaamanamoorthy temple land was encroached on and desecrated by the controversial Communist Karuvannur bank.

4) Married woman Bhavna Sharma, wife of Deepak Sharma, and their half-year-old daughter Rishu have been missing since September 29. They were taken by her female Muslim Instagram friend Mahi Khan to visit her house. The police have rescued Bhavna and Rishu.

5) Rizwan Gaffar Shah was arrested by Surat Police on the basis of a complaint filed by a Hindu woman who accused him of trapping her by posing as Karan. He is alleged to have enticed her into a relationship under false pretenses and subsequently forcefully converted her to Islam after taking her to Delhi. The victim eventually discovered the truth, managed to escape the situation, and returned to Surat. With the support of her family, she filed a complaint with the Surat police. Subsequently, the accused individual, Rizwan Gaffar Shah, was apprehended, and legal proceedings were undertaken.

6) Himachal Pradesh (HP) Police failed to file an FIR against the Church of Sign and Wonder over fraudulent conversions.

7) A case of rape under the pretext of marriage has come to light in the Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh. A 20-year-old Hindu girl has accused a man named Shahnawaz Khan of pressurizing her to convert to Islam for marriage. She also charged him with forcing a physical relationship with her. The victim has undergone a medical examination, and the police have registered a First Information Report. Further investigation is underway.

8) A Muslim allegedly stopped Hindu pilgrims returning from Bajrang Dal (BD) Shobha Yatra and objected to playing Ramdhun and raising Jai Shri Ram slogans. The incident occurred in Ahmedabad’s Jamalpur of Gujarat.

9) In a Love Jihad case reported from Jammu &Kashmir’s Poonch, Shaukat Pathan pretended to be Sunny to marry a Hindu model and converted her to Islam. She gave in to his pressure, but the accused and his family continued to harass her. He then married a different woman without divorcing her. The victim, who hails from Madhya Pradesh, worked as a model in Noida city of Uttar Pradesh.

10) In a shocking turn of events, journalist Abhijit Majumder, has found himself in the Tamil Nadu (TN) Police’s crosshairs. The police went all the way to the Noida-based media house looking for Abhijit without issuing any summons. TN Police landed at the journalist’s workplace for criticizing Udhayanidhi Stalin’s hate speech against Hindu Dharma.

11) Protests have intensified against Sree Krishna College in Guruvayur after they released their Union magazine featuring anti-Hindu images. Recently, the magazine cover of the college working under Guruvayur Devaswom got attention on social media. Students’ Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM), is behind this Hindu blasphemy.

12) Islamists attacked a Hindu village in Barot under Magrahat Police Station of South 24 Parganas district. Islamists ransacked houses, beat up Hindus, and looted valuables things. The attack took place after police were forced to arrest Zahoor Sarder, who was accused of raping an SC Hindu minor girl, following protests from villagers.

13) Maharashtra Police booked four persons, identified as Adnan Sheikh, Mobin Sheikh, Shahbaz Sheikh, and Abdul Sayyed, for brutally assaulting a young man identified as Amit Pardeshi for playing songs of Shri Rama. The accused threatened the victim and hit him with iron rods resulting in severe injuries.

14) The Police arrested Deepti Tarafdar and her lover, Javed Akhtar, for the brutal murder of Avjit Tarafdar(38). Also, the mother of Avijit was seriously injured and is now undergoing treatment at Islampur Suv-Divisional Hospital. 

15) In Delhi, Md Asif and Md Mehraj murdered taxi driver Bijendra to steal his car. The duo were arrested after a video of them dragging the victim went viral on social media.

16) An FIR was registered against students Atif, Khalid & others of the Aligarh Muslim University for raising pro-Palestine slogans. Further investigation into the matter is underway.

17) Two Kanpur men, Faisal and Muzaffar, were given the death sentence for killing a ‘Kafir’, who was wearing kalawa and tilak, to impress ISIS.

18) Two Muslim youths molested a Hindu student returning from coaching in a village in the Ghazipur district of UP. When the girl and her brother protested, about 11 Muslim youths armed with sticks attacked them, leaving the Hindu boy battling for life.

19) In Ikhar village of Amod taluka of Bharuch district in Gujarat, Muslims have threatened the Hindu tribal community not to organize Navratri and said they will pelt stones if the event is held.

20) Information has come out that a Muslim woman from Manakkad entered the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram. Following the visit of a non-Hindu woman just before the Alpashi Aarattu festival, the temple Tantri ordered to re-perform the Mannuneer Koral ceremony, which is held before the flag off of the Alpashi festival.

21) In a disturbing case of love jihad, a Muslim man identified as Afzal Siddiqui has been accused of trapping a Hindu girl in the name of love. The incident has come to light from Uttar Pradesh’s (UP) capital Lucknow.

22) A case of hurting religious sentiments has come to light in Koteshwar Mahadev mandir located under Lanji police station of Balaghat district, Madhya Pradesh. A Deputy Sarpanch has been accused of urinating on a Shivalinga of the Koteshwar Mahadev mandir.

23) Uttar Pradesh ATS busted a human trafficking racket and arrested three Bangladeshi natives for helping illegal migrants from Bangladesh get forged Indian identity documents and illegally settle in India. The trio arrested from Deoband, Saharanpur, were identified as Najibul Sheikh and Abu Huraira, both residents of 24 Parganas, West Bengal, while the third accused was identified as Adil Mohammed Ashrafi alias Adil-ur-Rehman, a resident of Mirpur, Bangladesh.

Pakistan

Abduction, rape, forced conversion, and marriage of minor Hindu girls are common occurrences in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. At least 1,000 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) In yet another heart-wrenching case of violence against minorities in Pakistan, the 19-year-old daughter of Krishna Ram was subjected to a brutal ordeal, culminating in her gang rape and murder. The incident occurred in the remote region of Qasim Wala Bangla, located in the Cholistan desert. The girl was kidnapped, gang-raped, and murdered.

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 attacked the house of Dhiren Pal in the Jhalkathi district of Bangladesh. The Islamists vandalized the house and the temple adjacent to his house. 

2) Thieves reportedly stole 5 Murtis from the famous Siddheswari Laxminarayana temple, situated in Munshiganj. As per the reports, the Siddheswari Laxminarayana temple is a well-known temple in Munshiganj town. The temple is situated in the Panchghariakandi locality of the town.

World

1) Ten Nepali Hindus of the 17 abducted by Hamas terrorists in Israel were killed by the terrorists, confirmed the Nepali government. The government has also announced mourning for the Nepalis who lost their lives in the attack.

2) Popular Palestinian Islamic scholar Nidhal Siam had called for the genocide of Hindus during a protest meeting at the controversial Al Aqsa mosque. His comments came in light of former BJP leader Nupur Sharma’s comments about Islam during a TV debate. Even though this is an old video, it has once again resurfaced in light of Hamas terrorists going on a rampage against Jews whom they consider infidels. In his speech, he urged Pakistan to wage jihad against India for the sake of Allah and called for the eradication of infidels and polytheism.

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.