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 14 January to 20 January 2024, we hope to provide a snapshot of such crimes and hopefully awaken more people around the world to this human rights crisis:

Bharat

1) In the Wajidpur village of Baraut in Baghpat, a disturbing incident occurred when members of the Muslim community entered a house and attacked a Hindu family for not providing goods. Three people, including a woman, were injured in the incident. Grocery shop owner Sunita Sunita’s son Himanshu Sharma and nephew Aman Sharma were injured in the assault.

2) Karnataka Congress General Secretary Sathya Prakash E mocked Ram Bhakts on Facebook. He deleted the post after backlash from Hindus.

3) Goons associated with the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) attacked a Hindu man for questioning the tirade of a Communist Party leader, Dipsita Dhar, against Ram Mandir.

4) An Instagram user identified as Sajad Khan from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh (MP), has been consistently sharing threatening videos and creating reels on Instagram targeting so-called majority community members and Temples and even encouraging participation in riots. Despite the alarming content, there has been no action taken by the police against him so far.

5) Salman Khan, Altaf Khan, Raqib Khan, and Irfan Khan insulted a driver belonging to the ST (Scheduled Tribe) Vanvasi community during a demonstration protest for their demands. The ST driver was garlanded with shoes by the Islamists. The incident took place in Madhya Pradesh’s (MP) Seoni District.

6) Silchar police have successfully apprehended a youth from Tripura near the Bangladesh border following allegations of his involvement in a love affair with a Hindu girl that led to their elopement. The accused, identified as Mumin, is alleged to be Bangladeshi.

7) Vinod Kashyap was murdered, and his brother was seriously injured by a Muslim man in Unnao. The accused, identified as Kale Khan, attacked a local farmer leader, Vinod Kashyap and his brother, Durga Shankar Kashyap, as they were collecting donations for an upcoming event at the village temple.

8) The Tamil film ‘Annapoorani: The Goddess of Food’ finds itself embroiled in yet another controversy as an FIR (First Information Report) has been registered against the film’s makers and actors in Madhya Pradesh. This development comes in the wake of widespread outrage on social media, where the film has been accused of promoting conversion to Islam and misrepresenting the revered deity Bhagwan Ram.

9) Acclaimed singer K.S. Chithra came under cyber attack over a post on the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Chithra, in her post on social media, had requested all to chant hymns praising Sri Ram when the event takes place on 22 January, and in the evening, light lamps in and around one’s homes. The post came out on Sunday (14 January) and after getting a good response to it, faced vile attacks.

10) Ghatkopar residents protested against a Muslim burial ground replacing a public park. They highlighted the environmental damage the move will cause.

11) Santosh Kumar Chaudhary was found dead in Bihar’s Vaishali district. This happened merely a month after he got married to his Muslim love interest, Mosrath Khatun. Santosh Kumar’s family has accused the family members of his Muslim wife of having a hand in their son’s murder.

12) After ten months of their marriage, Sultana’s maternal uncle, Suleman, murdered her husband Ghanshyam because he disapproved of their relationship. Sultana has two children.

13) In Madhya Pradesh’s (MP) Damoh, a case of love jihad was reported where a man named Mubarak Khan trapped a girl named Shruti Tiwari. Khan is 42 years old, while Shruti is 22 years old. According to some reports, Khan is already married and has three children.

14) In a distressing incident that unfolded recently in Madhuban, Mau district of UP, allegations of the abduction of a teenage Hindu girl and forced conversion to Islam have come to light. Local authorities have registered a case against two youths, Salman and Sahil, following a complaint lodged by the distressed father of the missing girl.

15) In Faridabad’s Gaunchhi village, Muslim community members threw stones and raised religious slogans against Hindus preparing for Bhagwa Yatra for the upcoming Pran Pratishtha in Ayodhya’s Sri Ram Mandir.

16) A seventeen-and-a-half-year-old student in 12th grade filed a case of sexual assault and love jihad in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, after which Moin Khan, a resident of Lal Gali, was arrested by the authorities. Khan has been charged under appropriate sections of rape under IPC as well as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act. The matter pertained to the Pardeshipura police station area.

17) A 350-year-old Hanuman Mandir in Punjab’s Barnewala (Dhanaula) was robbed of valuables by miscreants who also reportedly desecrated the Mandir. The Barnala police apprehended four thieves and also successfully retrieved the stolen gold and silver jewellery. The culprits involved in this criminal act have been recognized as Balkar Gursharan, Ramphal alias Raju, and Gursevak Singh, all residents of Sangrur district. 

18) An individual has been arrested in Goa for allegedly tearing a banner of Sri Ram. The police, however, refused to disclose the identity of the arrested individual, saying the person is a native of Uttar Pradesh.

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 more than 100 Hindu minority families in several villages of Mongla Upazila. Islamists beat the minorities and looted their houses. Islamists also allegedly molested minority women in the village. Besides that, Islamists also forcefully grabbed the fisheries belonging to the community. 

2) Islamists brutally tortured a Hindu farmer Jhantu Mondal. He was beaten mercilessly, and his home was ransacked and looted. Torture was so brutal that his hands and legs were broken. He is now undergoing treatment in a hospital in Dhaka.

3) On the evening of the 19 January, Islamists attacked a Kirtan programme in the Tangail district. Several Hindu minorities got injured, and several houses belonging to the Hindu minority community were also vandalised. The incident happened in the Poyla village under the Gharinda Union of Tangail district.

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.