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 3 December to 9 December 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 case of hatred has come to light in Kolkata city. Muslim passengers allegedly beat up a Hindu woman brutally on a bus. The incident occurred in the Girish Park area.
2) Retired sanitation worker Latif Khan was arrested for urinating on temples in Ujjain. Police claimed he was mentally unstable.
3) In the Faridabad district of Uttar Pradesh, a case of love jihad has come to the fore wherein a Muslim youth named Arif posed Veer to lure a Hindu woman into his love trap. The accused allegedly recorded obscene videos of the victim and used the same to blackmail her. The accused sexually assaulted the woman for over a year.
4) Three individuals from Punjab were apprehended for reportedly inscribing pro-Khalistan slogans in the vicinity of the Mata Chintpurni temple in Una district, Himachal Pradesh. The Una Superintendent of Police confirmed that the suspects, identified as Phool Chand (26), Arjinder Singh (28), and Harry (21), were arrested from Dhesia and Surja villages in Jalandhar district, Punjab. They were taken into custody for writing slogans such as ‘Khalistan Zindabad’ and ‘Himachal Banega Khalistan’ on the temple walls and subsequently brought to the Chintpurni police station.
5) In Indore, Madhya Pradesh, a case has been filed against four members of a Muslim family for assaulting BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) workers during a victory procession following the party’s substantial triumph in the Madhya Pradesh assembly election. The incident occurred on Sunday (3 December) night as the BJP workers’ procession passed by the residence of Vakil Pathan.
6) In an alarming incident shedding light on a case of sexual assault, a woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad district was reportedly raped, targeted for her Hindu identity. The accused, Junaid, and four others were apprehended by the police following an encounter.
7) In yet another heartwrenching case of sexual assault and forced Islamic conversion, a man identified as Junaid was booked along with four others by the Uttar Pradesh (UP) police. The incident was reported from UP’s Prayagraj, where a mother-daughter duo were threatened to embrace Islam.
8) In a shocking case, a teacher reportedly poured fluid on the face of a student as punishment for writing Jai Shri Ram on his desk in a Ghaziabad-based missionary school.
9) Asgar Ali, a resident of Adhiyara police station, was arrested after a shootout for raping a minor in Uttar Pradesh’s Ambedkar Nagar.
10) A young college student, Nisha Kumbhar (age 21), waiting for a bus at a bus stop in Nerul in New Mumbai, was attacked by a stranger. The police have arrested the accused, identified as Hussain Imam Hasan Shamshu (age 26). Hussain Imam Hasan Shamshu is a beggar in the Nerul area, and he attacked Nisha with a glass bottle. The accused has been arrested for the offence of attempt to murder.
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) In a profoundly distressing revelation, two historic temples in Pakistan, each bearing centuries of cultural and religious significance, find themselves subjected to shocking acts of disrespect and neglect. Varun Dev Mandir has been shamefully converted into a tourist toilet. In another distressing revelation, a temple in Ahmedpur Lamma city in Punjab, Pakistan, is reported to have undergone a similarly disheartening fate. Once a place of worship, this temple is seen as being converted into an animal farm.
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) Awami League-backed Islamists attacked minority villages for not joining the rally. The incident has been reported from Sripur village under the Madhuhati Union of Jhenaidah district.
2) A case of an attack on a minority family was reported from Bogura District. Debashis Sarkar has been living at Chaknandan village under the jurisdiction of Sonatala Police Station of Bogura district for many years. Recently, some anti-social elements threatened them to sell their land. When the family refused to give in to their demands, unknown miscreants set their home ablaze.
3) Police arrested a Muslim youth for stealing money from the donation box of the famous Sri Sri Laxmi Narayan Jiu Mandir situated in Faridganj town of Chandpur district. The arrested has been identified as Akhtar Hossain (25).
4) Sree Kshitish Chandra Acharya, priest of the Mohanta estate brought an allegation against Ziaur Rahman, Member of Parliament of Chapainawabganj-2 (Nachol-Gomstapur-Bholahat) Constituency and President of District Awami League and his followers of occupying the temporality property belonging to Mohanta Estate of Rahanpur at Gomstapur Upazila in Chapainawabganj district.
5) Government Muslim Higher Secondary School is situated in the Chattagram town of Bangladesh. Students from Hindu and Muslim communities have studied in the school for many years. But, before the start of the new academic year, a group of Muslim students and their parents are demanding that Hindu students should not be allowed to study in the school. They even staged protests in front of the school. Also, they put placards and banners on the school premises and outside the school.
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.
