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 15 October to 21 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) Just before Durga Puja, Bengal CPM will conduct a survey on whether party members are practicing atheism and shunning religious rituals.

2) The headmaster of the primary department of a school in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, has been arrested on charges of molestation and harassment. The case was registered against the accused, Asif Jamal, after the parents of a class 5 student lodged a complaint against him, accusing him of molesting their minor child and then trying to silence her by offering her a bribe of Rs 10.

3) A clash erupted between two ‘communities’ in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh late on Sunday (15 October) over the route of a ‘Shobha Yatra’, the police said. One person was injured after people began throwing stones during the clash. The conflict occurred when a ‘Ram Baarat’ procession was moving through an area, and two groups got into a dispute over its route. The situation quickly escalated, with local markets shutting down and angry slogans being raised against the local administration.

4) Devotees undertaking Ram Baraat in Uttar Pradesh’s (UP) Harigadh (Aligarh) were attacked by Islamists, leaving around a dozen of them injured. This incident took place on October 15.

5) Another security breach was reported at Sabarimala temple.

6) The Navaratri Kalash Yatra in Uttar Pradesh’s (UP) Khushinagar district came under an Islamist attack on Sunday (15 October). Devotees held a Kalash Yatra in Lakshmipur, located in UP’s Khushinagar District. The Yatra was pelted with stones by Islamists, leaving two devotees injured.

7) A murti of Bhagwan Hanuman that had been placed in the Panchayat land in Shamgarh hamlet of Haryana’s Karnal was demolished in the night by mischievous individuals, and the pieces were tossed into the adjoining pond.

8) The local Hindu community defended Yerravaram Sri Narasimhaswamy Temple in Telangana against government takeover.

9) Posters reading “Leave homes or face consequences,” thereby threatening Hindus and Sikhs, were pasted on houses in Poonch in Jammu & Kashmir.

10) Sahil, who was exploiting a girl by presenting her as his wife for four months, was caught by Hindu organizations VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) and Bajrang Dal (BD) after locals alerted them about the couple. The girl, who is a minor teenager, said that she is a resident of Punjab, and Sahil got her to Agra from Delhi by trapping her in the name of love.

11) A tenth-grade student from Kanpur’s St. Aloysius’ High School admitted that his female Christian teacher took him to the church and cut his ‘Shikha’ (a Brahmin ritual symbolizing wisdom). Later, his text messages revealed that the student had sexual chats with his teacher. The parents have accused the teacher of trapping their minor in ‘love’ and attempting his conversion. The teacher has now been suspended from the school.

12) Vikas Pandey from UP’s Ghazipur was lynched by an Islamist mob led by POCSO-accused SP goon Shamshad for opposing his sister’s molestation.

13) A shocking case of forced religious conversion that exposes Islamic fanaticism and the hunger of Islamists to convert all kaffirs to Islam was reported in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar. A minor boy who was abducted eight years ago returned home with a changed name and religion. He was circumcised and kept in Madarsa.

14) In the Surat district of Gujarat, a Muslim man named Mohammad Rehan was arrested for pretending to be a Hindu and blackmailing Hindu girls to send their nude pictures by promising to get them modeling assignments. After the matter came to light, Adajan Police registered a case against the accused and arrested him.

15) A video of a case of love jihad came to light from Gujarat. In this video, it is reported that a Muslim youth named Firoz trapped a Hindu young woman Janki in Bhuj city and married her after forcibly converting her to Islam. After the marriage, Firoz asked the girl to have a relationship with other people. The young woman refused to do so, after which Feroz brutally beat her up. The victim has confirmed in a media interaction that this viral video is true.

16) Hindu youths in Telangana’s Hyderabad thwarted one Fareed Shah’s attempt to enter a Garba event by posing as Ashish.

17) Ramesh was brutally murdered by his wife Gulnaz’s parents, who opposed their alliance. His throat was slit, and his dead body was thrown in a well.

18) The management of ABES College in Ghaziabad suspended two professors, Mamta Gautam and Shweta Sharma, for opposing the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan by a student and getting him off stage. Director of ABES, Sanjay Kumar Singh, confirmed this suspension.

19) The case of a Hindu boy losing his life for having fallen in love with and marrying a Muslim girl is reported from Bihar’s Darbhanga. The allegation has been leveled against the Muslim wife of Vikas Yadav. The Yadav family accused the girl of killing her husband by poisoning him.

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) Another case of forced abduction incident came to light in Pakistan, where a 13-year-old girl named Radha Meghwar was forcibly abducted from her family in the village of Sarhandi Abad, Tando Mohammad Khan. Concerns are mounting that she may be coerced into converting to Islam.

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) The Islamic Foundation of Bangladesh issued a notice to control loudspeakers and other musical instruments during Azaan and Namaaz. 

2) A Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leader named Solaiman Ali Sabuj is accused of raping a Hindu housewife after threatening to kill her husband.

3) An Islamic radical vandalized the Murti of Maa Durga in the Narsingdi district of Bangladesh. The Police arrested the accused radical Muhammed Monir. 

World

1) The Naperville, Illinois area of America’s Chicago became a center of much speculation and controversy recently as a Hindu American teenage boy was accused of burning the Quran, the holy book of Muslims, as an apparent act of hate. However, it came to light that the main accused student was being bullied and harassed by a group of 40 students. It was discovered that two students were involved in the incident and that, based on the testimony of students and the video of the incident, the burned book was not the Quran.

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.