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 17 March to 23 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) An alarming case of love jihad came to light in Gajraula Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha, where a young woman from the Deehat police station area of Hapur district was befriended on Instagram by Nizam, a resident of Bhadaura, which falls under the jurisdiction of Saidangali police station, by pretending to be Sanjay Kuma. The accused also took the victim to a hotel in Gajraula on 8th March and raped her. He has now been arrested.

2) The Supreme Court granted protection from arrest to Rakib Uddin Ahmed, accused of posting a poem on his Facebook account wherein he used obscene words aimed at Sri Ram and Mata Sita.

3) In a love jihad case reported from Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura, Rashid pretended to be Aman to lure a Hindu girl into a physical relationship and abandoned the girl after impregnating her.

4) Selu Municipal authorities are reportedly forcing Hindus to remove saffron flags and pictures of deities from their homes, citing the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The issue was flagged on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) by the legal organisation Legal Rights Observatory (LRO).

5) In a shocking incident that has garnered widespread attention, a Hindu shopkeeper in Bengaluru was viciously assaulted by a group of Islamists for allegedly playing loud music (Hanuman Chalisa) during the ‘Azaan’ time. The assault took place on Sunday evening in Siddanna Layout, located within the Halasurugate police station limits. The victim, identified as a 26-year-old shopkeeper, was targeted by a group of over five Islamists, as captured in a viral CCTV video of the incident.

6) In Uttar Pradesh’s (UP) Gorakhpur district, a case of love jihad has emerged where a girl named Raveena accused Ahmedabad-based businessman Mohammad Wasim of marrying her by pretending to be Basant Singh and then pressuring her to convert to Islam. The victim alleged that her in-laws beat and tortured her, but the police claim they have not received any complaint.

7) Protests erupted outside Baba Saheb Ambedkar Medical College in New Delhi against one Salim Sheikh, who works as an Assistant Professor at the college. The protests were organized by Mahila Nyay Smiti, who stated that the accused professor had sexually harassed multiple female students of the college.

8) During an interview, Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk stirred controversy after making highly objectionable remarks about Mata Sita. The activist, who has been observing the ‘fast unto death’ protest for the last 13 days, said that “Modi government has turned out to be such a Ram who rescued Sita from Ravan but sold her on the open market after that.”

9) News of theft was reported from the Dakshin Dinajpur district of West Bengal, where unidentified thieves stole silver and gold ornaments from the temple. The theft happened in a Kali Mata temple of Kushkari village under the jurisdiction of Bangshihari Police Station of Dakshin Dinajpur district. A temple committee member said that the silver and gold ornaments of the Murti were stolen. The silver ornament was 140gm.

10) An SC (Dalit) family filed an FIR against some Muslim men, accusing them of threatening and pressuring them to leave their village in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district. The accused Muslim men reportedly exerted pressure on the victim’s family by brandishing weapons at them. They also hurled casteist abuses at the Dalit family while threatening them with dire consequences if they did not accede to their demands.

11) The Chandmari Police arrested Hamidul Islam from Guwahati’s GS Road locality in a case of love jihad. The accused disguised as a Hindu man named Jun and trapped a Hindu woman.

12) In a recent development in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, tensions escalated following allegations of an attempted Christian conversion, prompting protests from Hindu organisations. The incident, which unfolded within the jurisdiction of the Kaushambi police station, has led to the detention of several individuals and a flurry of police activity.

13) Tensions erupted in Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh area after an Islamist mob attacked the Shobha Yatra of Sri Charbhuja Nath. According to reports, the accused from the Muslim community protested against the procession and assaulted the people participating in it when it reached near their basti (settlement). They then started stone pelting and torched several vehicles and shops.

14) In Uttar Pradesh’s (UP) Badaun, a tragic incident occurred where Islamists Sajid and Javed brutally murdered two Hindu children. The horror did not stop there, and the Islamists reportedly drank the blood of their innocent school-going victims.

15) Jawaharlal Nehru University, a prominent leftist stronghold, is embroiled in yet another controversy. Anti-Hindu slogans were raised in the varsity, and a video of the incident has gone viral online. The video shows students shouting slogans like “Mile Phule-Kanshi Ram, Hawa Mein Ud Gaye Jai Shri Ram” during the night. Moreover, “Brahmanwad se azadi” (freedom from Brahminism) and “Free Palestine” slogans were also raised amidst the sounds of trumpets and Dhols.

16) Mata Sita was referred to as a ‘prostitute’, and Hindus were asked to pay ‘jizya’ to play Holi at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). A video of the instance has also surfaced on social media in which Hindu students could be witnessed running to save themselves while Islamists go on a rampage against them.

17) On March 22, Friday, a man allegedly attempted to burn down a Shankaracharya Math in Gujarat’s Bharuch town. He also reportedly left behind an ominous message for its priest, threatening to behead him. The CCTV footage of the incident showed a man in a black shirt and a skull cap hurling something towards the door of the religious institution located in the Navchowki Ovara area alongside the Narmada River before igniting it. Among the items tossed towards the door were papers bearing a handwritten message reading ‘Gustakh Pir Ki Saza, Sar Tan Se Juda‘ were discovered.

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) Hindu students are protesting against the decision to cook beef in the dining hall of Jessore Science and Technology University. They alleged that some people in the university administration did this on purpose to hurt their religious sentiments.

2) A Muslim teacher beat up a female teacher in a school in the Jhenaidah district of Bangladesh. The victim teacher, Pubali Mitra, belongs to the minority community. She is an assistant teacher at Alampur Dakshin Para Adarsha Primary School. The woman teacher alleged that Humayun Kabir, another assistant teacher of the school, used to abuse her verbally for many years. When she protested, the accused teacher threatened to suspend her from school.

3) Islamists attacked Rajiv Kumar Dey for keeping his shop open during the daytime in the month of Ramzan. The incident took place in Sylhet.

4) According to the reports, a Muslim youth attacked the Kali Mata temple in Hatkhola village under the Shiyalkol union of Sirajganj district. Armed with a sharp weapon, the Muslim youth tried to break the Kali Mata Murti.

5) Islamist Nurul Amin mercilessly beat an elderly Hindu woman named Pratibha Rani in Natehra village under Barakul Union of Hajiganj Upazila of Chandpur district. Pratibha Rani was in the market and was chewing betel leaf as usual. Local Muslim resident Nurul Amin allegedly told her not to chew betel leaf during the holy month of Ramadan. When she disagreed to do so, Nurul Amin got enraged and attacked Pratibha Rani. 

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.