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 28 January to 3 February 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 Daman, some Muslim youths posted a picture of the Babri structure on Instagram with the caption, “Jab waqt hamara aayega, tab sar dhad se alag kiye jayenge”. The police filed a FIR against the three and arrested them. Four youths, including one Asif Khan, are among the accused.

2) The Ram Janaki Temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur received a bomb threat on Sunday (28 January). Several posters mentioning bomb threats were pasted on the walls and scattered on the floor of the ancient temple. BJP leader Rohit Sahu, who is also a trustee of the Ram Janaki Temple in Kanpur, also received a threat letter.

3) Uttar Pradesh police arrested three Islamists for threatening to destroy the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The accused were identified as Irshad Ahmed, Ajmal and Bhura.

4) A Mewar University student named Sohrab Qayoom from Jammu and Kashmir was arrested by the Chittorgarh police in Rajasthan after he allegedly made an offensive social media post on the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and the demolished Babri structure.

5) An undated video of a missionary performing a prayer in Tamil went viral on social media a few days ago. In the video, the preacher is seen kneeling and praying in Tamil. In the short 90-second clipping, the preacher can be heard saying, “Please kill Modi, please kill Amit Shah, kill Nirmala Sitharaman, kill UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Please show that the deity there in Ayodhya is you by resurrecting from there. They have given a date for it – 22 January. Please bless us (he cries as he speaks).“

6) Protests erupted after the Congress government forcefully took down the Sri Hanuman saffron flag put up by villagers in Karnataka’s Mandya.

7) An incident of acid attack came to light from Ahmedabad where a woman named Mehzabin Mohsin, along with her friend, threw acid on Rakesh Brahmbhatt, who is reportedly her ex-boyfriend.

8) A Muslim man, Chand, forced a Hindu girl to marry him according to the Muslim Tradition (nikah). Additionally, he also forcibly changed the girl’s religion and renamed her Shabnam. Moreover, the girl is reported to have been raped multiple times by Chand.

9) A two-week-old video of Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) leader Uma Ilakkiya abusing Sri Ram has gone viral on social media. “Lord Ram was a murderer, used to live with 1000 women and drink,” she says in the video.

10) Islamic scholar Atiq ur Rehman attempted to downplay the desecration of Hindu temples by Islamic invaders and claimed that the Muslim community should be credited for not destroying evidence of mosques being built atop Hindu temples.

11) A 12-year-old mentally disturbed minor girl was gang-raped in January 2017 by the Principal and three teachers of Kako Secondary School in Bihar’s Jehanabad. The accused were identified as Principal Aju Ahmed and three teachers — Atul Rahman, Abdul Bari and Md Shakaut. It has now come to light that the four are out on bail and are intimidating the victim’s family.

12) In yet another case of love jihad, the Uttar Pradesh police have arrested an Islamist for not only raping a minor Hindu girl but also forcefully converting her to Islam. The accused, identified as Chand Mohammad, is a native of the Amroha district of Uttar Pradesh.

13) A Hindu woman was drugged and raped by an engineer named Syed Abdul Alim Jafri in Lucknow. Furthermore, he pressured her to convert to Islam and marry him. He even threatened to make her explicit video viral on social media when she protested. He has been arrested by the authorities from Noida.

14) Muslim students in Akola Homoeopathic College force students to apologise for performing drama depicting Shivaji Maharaj killing Afzal Khan.

15) A case involving the abduction and sexual assault of a young Hindu girl by Sohail Khan has surfaced in the city’s Janakganj police station area. The family members gathered outside the SP office and filed a gang rape case against the Muslim youth, demanding severe punishment. After assurance of strict action, the family members ended the siege.

16) A row erupted in Balrampur, Chhattisgarh, after members of a local Hindu organisation alleged that a few people were promoting illegal Christian conversion through the means of inducement and showing Sanatan Dharma in a bad light.

17) Mumbai’s RAK Marg Police in Sewri took action against Abubakar Mohammad Ali Shaikh, a self-styled Muslim ‘godman,’ for allegedly deceiving multiple individuals under false pretences.

18) In Ratlam, Mohammad Rehan and Bhayyu broke into a house on Station Road at midnight by breaking the door. They attacked a 46-year-old Hindu priest named Awadhesh Trivedi with a knife, causing severe injuries. The priest was taken to the district hospital for first aid and then referred to the medical college for further treatment.

19) Sushmita Sen batted for Islamist Pakistan and showed the Preamble to Ram Bhakts.

20) In the Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, an SC (Dalit) family belonging to the Valmiki caste is facing threats and pressure from influential Muslims in their village. The family, led by Sadhuram, has filed a complaint with the Saharanpur police, stating that they are being coerced to either convert to Islam or vacate their land. He reported that a group of individuals, including Aslam, Niaz, Ejaz, Sonu, Aamir, Kamil, Salim, and Kala, is threatening them to seize their land.

21) The Kila Thana area in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, was reeling from a disturbing incident where a woman was allegedly coerced into marriage, abducted, and raped for several months by an Islamist, Mohd Sajid. The victim, who resides in Kila Thana, faced threats and pressure when she resisted the forced marriage proposal.

22) Islamists attacked a state transport (ST) bus carrying school students on an excursion in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur. According to reports, stones were pelted on the bus after students chanted Jai Sri Ram and Shivaji Maharaj ki Jai. The incident occurred in Kolhapur’s historic Dussehra Chowk.

23) A 35-year-old techie was discovered dead at her home in Attapur in the Rangareddy district of Telangana. The deceased has been identified as Adithi Bharadwaj, a software engineer and a native of Gujarat. Police stated that she took the drastic step after Mohammed Ali, her boyfriend of many years, cheated on her.

24) In a shocking incident captured on video, a Hindu man was brutally assaulted by an Islamist mob in Hyderabad, Telangana. The assault reportedly occurred as the man was riding a bike with a Muslim girl, who was also subjected to harassment during the ordeal.

25) An outrageous incident took place at the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) when a play was performed at the varsity mocking Prabhu Sri Ram and Devi Sita. The play titled ‘Jab We Met’ was staged as a part of a competition at Lalit Kala Kendra. The Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists took strong objection to the depiction of Lord Ram and Goddess Sita in a poor light in the said act.

26) A brutal Kanhaiya lal-like murderous assault was recently reported from Gujarat’s Bhavnagar in which a Hindu tailor was attacked with Iron rods. The victim suffered a head injury and was taken to hospital for treatment. The victim has accused Sahil, Shaukat, and Munna of attacking him for playing Hanuman Chalisa at his shop. The victim, a tailor in Kumbharwada, Rajendrabhai Chauhan, filed a complaint with Boratalav Police, leading to the initiation of an investigation.

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) Islamist Raju Miyan abducted Mitu Rani Roy from Bochaganj in the Dinajpur district. Although the girl’s father has filed a complaint at Bochaganj Police Station, the Police have yet to recover the girl.

2) Sri Bikash Sarkar, his wife Swarna Rani Sarkar and daughter Paramita Sarkar Tushi were murdered in Tarash Upazila of Sirajganj district of Bangladesh. A team of officers from several investigation agencies are trying to identify and arrest the accused. They were found in their home in a pool of blood.

3) Amid continuous Hindu persecution, a popular political leader of the minority Hindu Community has been murdered in Nesarabad Upazila of Pirojpur district. The deceased leader has been identified as Sekhar Sikdar. Sekhar was A former Union Parishad (UP) chairman. 

4) Kali Mata temple, situated in the Raypur Municipal area of Laxmipur district, was vandalised.

World

1) BBC’s misleading reportage about Haji Malang Dargah row copied by Pakistani media to cast aspersions on Ram Mandir.

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.