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 12 May to 18 May 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) The Rajasthan police apprehended a man named Salman Khan for the heinous crime of raping a 25-year-old Hindu woman under the guise of love. Salman Khan, who operated a mobile repair shop in Jaipur, deceived the victim by pretending to be Hindu. He then proceeded to sexually assault her, record obscene videos and subsequently blackmail her into paying him 2-4 lakhs of rupees.

2) It has been discovered that an unauthorised Islamic structure has been built at the Ranjit Sagar Dam, the source of livelihood for the residents of the Jamnagar area of Gujarat. What is astonishing is that the dargah (shrine) continues to exist there even after the administration issued a written order in 2022 to remove it.

3) The Andhra Pradesh Council of Churches has allegedly issued a press release urging its members to back YS Jagan as the state’s next chief minister, describing him as a devout Christian. This official statement came just days before the state’s elections.

4) Syed Imtiaz Jalal, a former NDTV reporter and All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) said that Muslims are my first constituents and I will still prefer calling Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar Aurangabad.

5) In a significant development, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has made a crucial breakthrough in the investigation concerning the tragic murder of Karnataka BJP Yuva Morcha member, Praveen Nettaru, perpetrated by two Islamist assailants, which occurred in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district’s Bellare in 2022. NIA arrested prime accused Mustafa Paichar from Karnataka’s Hassan district.

6) Abdul Rashid Abdul Latif, who posted morphed, derogatory images of Hindu Gods, was booked by Navghar Police after a complaint.

7) A case of Love Jihad was reported from Deesa town in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district. The police arrested the accused bus driver, Imran Qasam Hussain Dhori, who hails from Vadodara. It was reported that the accused raped the victim several times, including on a running bus, by blackmailing and threatening the victim. The whole incident came to light when the victim got tired of Dhori’s torture and tried to commit suicide. The police have registered a case against the accused and arrested him.

8) The body of Ankit, also known as Neelu Meena, was found in a vacant plot in Rajasthan’s Gangapur City. The 27-year-old’s face and head were crushed with stones, and his throat was slit. The main accused, Salman, along with his two minor associates, has been detained by the police. The murder is believed to be the result of a long-standing dispute between Salman and Ankit.

9) In a harrowing and shameful incident reported from Uttar Pradesh’s (UP) Saharanpur district, Mohammed Sameer kidnapped a 4-year-old Hindu girl from a Bhandara being held at a temple and raped her. After carrying out his despicable act, he threw her into a sugarcane field, believing her to be dead and escaped. During the investigation, the police came to know about the accused, Mohammed Sameer and subsequently, the girl was recovered from the sugarcane field. The blood-soaked girl has been admitted to the hospital.

10) Another case of abduction has been reported from the Sepahijila district of Tripura. Sabbir Ahmed and his father allegedly abducted a minor Hindu girl (15) and trafficked her to Bangladesh. However, the Police recovered the girl but couldn’t arrest any accused. 

11) The Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT Bombay has come under scrutiny after allegations surfaced that anti-Hindu professors openly insulted Hindu Dharma during a PhD. Entrance Exam in Sociology.

12) Radheshyam Pathak, a priest from UP’s Kushinagar, was brutally hacked to death by miscreants over a political debate that turned violent. According to the victim’s wife, a group of men supporting the Bahujan Samaj Party, killed her husband after their son said he would be voting for the BJP in the current elections.

13) In a shocking incident, a large mob of Islamists, numbering around 10,000 people, attacked a village in Telangana’s Adilabad district. The incident occurred in the Asifabad village in Adilabad, where a mob of radical Islamists brutally attacked the village with weapons.

14) A Hindu girl has reportedly eloped with a man from the Islamist community in Madhya Pradesh’s (MP) Anuppur, sparking allegations of love jihad and manipulative tactics by the Islamists. The incident has sparked uproar in the local community, with concerns raised over the girl’s safety and the circumstances surrounding her disappearance. The Hindu family resides in the Bhaalumada police station area of Anuppur district.

15) Calls for “vote jihad” are now being made, first in UP and now in Maharashtra, with Muslim Personal Law Board and Kul Jamat-e-Tanzeem leaders giving a clear call to Muslim voters to defeat Modi and BJP.

16) In a sad turn of events, a teacher forced a Hindu student to remove his sacred thread ‘Janeu’. Citing the rules, the teacher removed kalava, rings and other things. However, the removal of the ‘Janeu’ sparked huge controversy. The incident was reported from the Barpeta district of Assam. 

17) In Dehradun, two men were arrested by Rajpur Police for raping two minor sisters. The incident came to light when the accused, Ahtasam Khan and Mohammad Sahil, were arrested from Sahastradhara Road. After questioning, they were presented in court and sent to jail. The minor victims have been placed with their relatives.

18) Cow smuggler Jamiruddin Qureshi, who was arrested in connection with Journalist Ashutosh Srivastava’s murder case, escaped from police custody.

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) A Hindu minor girl named Shumaila, daughter of Kishan Kumar Odd, a resident of Hub Karachi, was abducted from Karachi and brought to Daharki, which is 580 km away from her home. Shumaila was reportedly converted to Islam by Javeed Ahmed Qadri, a Peer of Bharchundi Sharif Dargah, Daharki district, Ghotki, Sindh, which is a hub of the Islamic Conversion mafia and known for converting minor Hindu girls in Pakistan.

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) Tithi Sarkar was sentenced to five years in jail over blasphemy charges. She was a student at Jagannath University. Muslim students of the university alleged that Tithi made derogatory comments about Muhammad on the social media platform Facebook.

2) Jihadi Pinaki, known on social media platforms and on YouTube as Pinaki Bhattacharya, an ex-Hindu who continues to use his previous name, left Hindu dharma several years ago after he was brainwashed by Jamaat-e-Islami. Following his religious conversion, Jihadi Pinaki reportedly pressured his father, Shaymol Bhattacharya, mother, Shukrity Bhattacharya, brother Avro Bhattacharya and sister, Lopa Mudra Bhattacharya as well as his wife, to leave Hindu dharma and become Muslims.

3) ISKCON-managed temple in Krishnapur village under the Shivbari Upazila of the Sylhet district was attacked. A group of Islamists came and tried to grab the land of the temple. Priest and Sadhus tried to resist. But, Islamists allegedly dragged Sadhus and beat them. The Islamists also hurled obscene language at the Sadhus.

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.