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 15 May to 21 May 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) In Tamil Nadu, a woman tried to self-immolate due to harassment by converted Christians and police inaction. The middle-aged woman poured kerosene on herself in protest against the police department’s apathy towards her complaints. She said that Christians in her village have been forcing her and her family to convert for the past 10 years.
2) Authorities in Kerala found KC Halal restaurant in Kannur was stocking food materials inside the toilet. Dr. Subburayan, attached to the Kasaragod Public Health Center (PHC), and other officials who took videos of the incident were thrashed by the owner of the eatery Mohammad Moideen (28), his sister Sameena (29), and a security guard T. Dasan. The food joint had no licenses and had been closed earlier too for a week after food inspectors found stale food.
3) On Sunday, May 15, the BSF jawans arrested a group of 8 Bangladeshi Muslims, including women and children, who had illegally entered Bharat. The incident took place at the Swarupnagar border in the North 24 Parganas district of the state.
4) Islamists and HINOs made derogatory comments on Shivalinga after the survey team discovered a Shivling at Gyanvapi.
5) On the same day the anti-conversion law was notified by the Karnataka Government, a pastor and his wife from Kerala were arrested for forcing tribals to convert. They reportedly converted more than 1000 people working in the coffee estates of the Kodagu district. They were caught trying to convert a tribal Hindu couple and are accused of converting coffee estate laborers.
Bangladesh
Attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh are relentless and designed to gradually cleanse the religious minority from the country. As per a study by Prof. Abul Barakat of Dhaka University, there will be no Hindus 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 some of the tools used to intimidate and drive Hindus out.
1) Dhroba Chandra was murdered by Islamists on May 17 (Tweet archived)
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.
