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 true depth and breadth of these attacks, driven by disturbing anti-Hindu bigotry, have been ignored by the world. 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 10 April to 16 April 2022, we hope to provide a snapshot of such crimes and hopefully awaken more people around the world to this human rights crisis:

Bharat

1) Hindu man was beaten up by family members of his Muslim wife who were against the interfaith marriage. According to the reports, Lalit Khandvi, who works as a delivery person with a food delivery service, has filed a complaint against the family of his wife Simran Multani, alleging that his in-laws have kidnapped his wife.

2) On April 10, Gujarat’s Himmatnagar witnessed communal violence during Ram Navami celebrations. A Ram Navami Shobha Yatra was attacked and targeted by a group of local Muslim goons and stones were pelted at it. Reports suggest that some vehicles were also vandalized in this incident. The intention behind the attack was revealed, when the Hindu religious procession was attacked after it reached the Muslim-dominated area of Chhapariya.

3) Several videos have been posted on social media, showing the Ram Navami Shobha Yatra coming under attack in Howrah, the twin city of Kolkata. According to Twitter users from the city, the Muslim mob pelted stones at the procession, and the police didn’t do anything to stop the attack.

4) Violence erupted in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas District after a businessman and civic volunteer were shot and beheaded by Jane Alam Mollah for asking to return the money he owed.

5) At least four people were detained by police after members of two different communities engaged in stone-pelting in Himmatnagar town of Gujarat’s Sabarkantha district, officials said. The incident took place in the Vanzaravas area on Monday night, police said. In some videos shared on social media, some people can be seen throwing petrol bombs at another locality. According to Superintendent of Police Vishalkumar Vaghela, it was a minor flare-up and tear gas shells were also lobbed to disperse the mob.

6) It has been reported that local Muslims forcibly stopped loudspeakers from being used in Shiva temple in Aru village of Lohardaga. This happened in the aftermath of the violent attack on April 10 on the Ramnavmi procession. The administration has alerted to the situation and is trying to restore peace in the area.

7) In a new development, it has come to light that the Hindu population in Himmatnagar’s Vanzara Vaas area is vacating their homes following a threat to life out of communal violence. This comes two days after Ram Navami when on April 10, a Muslim mob attacked and pelted stones at a celebratory procession led by Hindu groups in a Muslim ghetto in the city.

8) On Monday, the situation in Joda town of Keonjhar district in Odisha became tense after an Akhada procession on the occasion of Ram Navami by Hindu devotees came under attack by some local Muslims. The district administration has imposed section 144 in the area following the violence.

9) As per the district administration, the violent attack on the Ramnavmi procession in Hirhi village was an act of sabotage by the sleeper cell which has been planning this for a long time. At least four people were injured after clashes broke out in the Hirhi area of Lohardaga district in Jharkhand after incidents of stone-pelting during Shobha Yatra. Several motorcycles and a pickup van were also consigned to flames during the violence that erupted on Sunday, April 10.

10) A video of a police officer slapping a youth who was harassing a girl went viral on social media recently. According to reports, the incident occurred in Colonelganj, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The youth identified as Mehtab Alam was caught red-handed molesting a girl on the road. The minor-looking girl could also be seen in the video, looking terrified.

11) On Tuesday, April 5, popular YouTuber Gaurav Taneja shared the viral image of Police constable Netresh Sharma rescuing an infant from the flames of anti-Hindu riots in Karauli, Rajasthan. This simple act invited the fury of Islamists and other anti-Hindu elements.

12) In a recent incident, Gurugram Police and Gaurakshak Dal (a volunteer group for cow protection) chased a pick-up truck carrying stolen cows for around 22 km. Shocking video footage (archive link) has emerged which shows the criminals throwing helpless cows – a kind, loving animal considered sacred by Hindus – from their high-speed truck onto the road to obstruct and crash the police vehicles hot in pursuit.

13) Ram Navami is an auspicious occasion for Hindus to celebrate the birth of Prabhu Sri Ram, and it is customary for Hindus to take out processions to mark the event. This year the occasion was marred by Islamist violence with attacks on Ram Navami processions being reported from several states across the country.

14) Several students were injured as clashes broke out on Sunday at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) here between members of the Left alliance (CPM’s SFI, CPI-ML’s AISA, AISF, DSF) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) after Hindu students were attacked for performing the pooja on occasion on Ram Navami.

15) A Bhagwan Shiv- Maa Parvati image was deliberately desecrated by a Sikh youth in Gurdaspur, Punjab on Saturday when Hindus were celebrating Ashtami (eighth day of the Chaitra Navaratri festival). Locals allege police were late in arriving and wanted to stoke a riot over the incident.

16) Ex-journalist of the Hindustan Times has said that Hindus are a virus. She dreams of the day Hindus are a minority, and wishes the community is ‘treated with hate and violence’. She calls herself a Hindu (by birth only).

17) A civilian, who was allegedly shot and injured by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K)’s Kulgam district, succumbed in the hospital, police officials said. The J&K Police said, “Satish Singh, a local Rajput belonging to Pombay Kakran village, who was shot and injured by militants yesterday evening, has succumbed to critical injuries”.

18) The Islamist violence on Ram Navami processions in two different towns of Madhya Pradesh has left at least 31 people injured, including 8 policemen. 16-year-old Shivam Shukla is struggling for life after he was admitted in a critical condition with a head injury due to the stone-pelting.

19) Another case of grooming jihad has emerged from Pathari near Haridwar in Uttarakhand, a state known as Devbhoomi. Police arrested a man named Sadiq, posing as a Hindu, for harassing and sexually assaulting a 13-year-old Hindu minor.

20) In Tamil Nadu, a temple has been turned into a godown by some people who run a tyre shop on its premises. The President of the Spiritual Hindu Party, JSK Gopi, visited the usurped temple and wrote to HRCE and ASI in an attempt to recover it. The temple was reportedly built in the memory of a saint who attained moksha. HRCE officials are investigating to find out the truth and restart worship in the temple.

Bangladesh

1) The favored trick of manufacturing a ‘blasphemous’ Facebook post was used yet again to target Hindus in the Bagerhat district of Bangladesh. Two separate attacks occurred, one in Morrelganj and the other in Chitalmari Upazilas.

2) Sree Jagannath Temple at Naokhali was attacked on April 12 when devotees were busy offering evening prayers.

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 obvious, 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, but the double standards at play become clear 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 dropping an email to [email protected]. We also solicit support in the maintenance of the Hindu human rights tracker database started by us.