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 24 February to 2 March 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) A government school teacher, posted in Rajasthan’s Baran district, was suspended for disrespecting Maa Saraswati and hurting religious feelings. The officials added that the primary school teacher named Hemlata Bairwa was suspended following an order by Rajasthan Education Minister Madan Dilawar.

2) Ashutosh Pandey, the plaintiff in the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute, received a bomb threat originating from a Pakistani phone number. Pandey said that the individual who threatened him warned of targeting him with a bomb unless he withdrew the case. Furthermore, Pandey said that the perpetrator also chanted anti-Bharat slogans during the call.

3) The shocking state of neglect of a temple under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has come to light. Crores of rupees were allocated annually to illuminate Mughal tombs in Delhi, while a 1000-year-old heritage site in Bhojshala, Dhar, suffers from neglect.

4) Indian Air Force (IAF) Officer Sukharam Jaat committed suicide in Makrana, Rajasthan. His family has accused his ‘friend’ Saddam Hussein and Saddam’s father, Mohammad Saeed, a former head constable, of pressuring the IAF officer to convert to Islam.

5) In Agra, a man named Zubair terrorized Murali Vihar Colony by targeting homes where residents had installed saffron flags. According to a report by Dainik Jagran, he set fire to cars parked outside such houses using a lighter, creating terror among residents. More than 200 houses were affected, with cars suddenly catching fire late at night.

6) In a shocking incident, Bajrang Dal workers were brutally attacked by dozens of Islamist radicals in Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh. The attack occurred after the Bajrang Dal workers exposed a cow smuggling racket in the area. Some of the workers were seriously injured and had to be hospitalized.

7) On the night of ‘Shab-e-barat’, a temple came under attack in the Mishrapara locality of Bankra under the jurisdiction of the Domjur Police Station of Howrah district. As per some reports, five temples were vandalised.

8) Hindu girls are regularly raped in places where the demographics have changed in the state, BJP’s West Bengal unit president Sukanta Majumdar alleged. He said the ruling Trinamool Congress violated human rights with impunity in Sandeshkhali.

9) In a disturbing incident that has shaken the Satara area near MIT College, a young Hindu girl was molested and subjected to attempted rape by a group of Islamist perpetrators. The harrowing ordeal unfolded around 11 PM when the victim was accosted by 3–4 individuals riding a motorcycle. As she bravely resisted, the situation escalated, resulting in a violent altercation where the girl’s clothes were torn amidst the struggle. According to eyewitnesses, the Islamist assailants viciously assaulted the victim’s mother when she intervened.

10) In a recent unsettling incident in Tamil Nadu, a woman was found reading the Bible inside the Kapaleeswarar Temple, situated in the heart of Chennai, during daylight hours. This incident occurred against the backdrop of a recent ruling by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, which ordered the restriction of non-Hindus from entering the Palani Murugan Temple.

11) In a concerning incident, the Railway Police in Hospet, Vijayanagara district, have taken swift action against a few Islamist youth perpetrators who threatened to set ablaze a train returning from Ayodhya.

12) A fresh case of Murti vandalism was reported from the East Medinipur district of West Bengal. As per the sources, residents of the powerhouse locality saw the Hanuman temple vandalised. They saw that the face of the Bhagwan Hanuman had been damaged.  

13) Alankode Leelakrishnan is a poet and writer known as a fierce critic of the Sangh Parivar. Recently, Leelakrishnan stated that the Bhagavad Gita failed and that Rama and Krishna (Bhagwan Shriram and Shri Krishna) are just characters, not epic men. At the same time, he praised the Qur’an and Islam. He declared that the Qur’an is an eye-opening book.

14) Another shocking incident of vandalism in a temple has come to light, this time from Punjab’s Ludhiana. As per reports, some unknown miscreants vandalized the temple located on the Delhi National Highway near the village of Sahnewal in Ludhiana.

15) A shocking case of mass religious conversion has come to light from Chhattisgarh’s Bemetara area, where more than 25 members of the tribal community converted to Christianity. As per reports, the religious conversions took place in houses built under the Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PM Housing Scheme). The Christian symbol ‘cross’ has been marked outside some of the houses.

16) In another case of love jihad, a woman was tricked by a Muslim man named Wasim Khan, who pretended to be Hindu. They got married and lived together for 15 years. Now, Khan refuses to recognize her and has run away with her jewellery. The woman, Rita Devi, has been visiting several police stations seeking justice but has not received any help.

17) In what is commonly referred to as a case of love jihad, a Hindu woman nearly escaped death in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore. The victim took the drastic step of taking her life following a delay in police investigations and the registration of her complaint. The police detained the prime accused, Mohammad Albab Khan, with his two siblings involved in the case under sections of gang rape.

18) In Uttarakhand’s Haldwani, a Hindu exodus is taking place due to a significant demographic change that has been happening in the area around Banbhulpura. Muslims from Rampur, Pilibhit, and Swar increasingly settle in Joshi Vihar near Shani Bazar. Over the last six years, 60 Hindu families have left Joshi Vihar, with only three Hindu families remaining. These families have also sold their houses and will be leaving next month.

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.