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 26 June to 2 July 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) Bihar Police have arrested a 32-year-old man, Mohammed Shamshad, for ‘marrying’ 12 girls, including minors, and pushing them into prostitution. Shamshad alias ‘Manohar’ is a resident of Anarkali village of the Kochadhaman Police Station area of Kishanganj district.
2) Bengal police have allegedly arrested innocent Hindus in false cases.
3) A serial love jihadi strikes again in Bilkha village of Junagadh in Gujarat. Sharafat Hasan Qadri, in his 40s, lured a Hindu girl aged 21 and eloped. Following the incident, tensions remain high in Junagarh, and locals observed a shutdown.
4) Medical professional Umesh Prahladrao Kolhe was murdered on June 21 (June 22 as per certain reports) at around 10.30 PM in Amravati. Shockingly, Islamists slit Kolhe’s throat in front of his son and daughter-in-law.
5) On June 30, a 20-year-old woman filed a complaint against her neighbor Zakir and his two accomplices for kidnapping and holding her captive for 6 months while sexually assaulting her, and forcing her into converting to Islam.
6) The two accused in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case had plans to kill another businessman in Udaipur, sources have revealed, adding that they have links with the proscribed terror outfit IS.
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.
1) A minority boy was kidnapped from outside his residence by unidentified men in Sindh’s Ranipur town, The Express Tribune reported. According to police and family members, the incident took place on Monday morning when the boy, Aadesh Kumar, was playing with his two neighborhood friends in front of his house. Two suspects riding a Honda 125 motorcycle appeared in the lane and kidnapped him.
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) Persecution of Hindu minorities over the Muhammad row continues in Bangladesh. The latest victim of Islamist majoritarianism in neighboring Bangladesh is the principal of a Hindu college Swapan Biswas. Biswas was forced to wear a garland of shoes as one of the students from his college Rahul Dey Roy had posted a photograph of Nupur Sharma on social media.
2) Ashok, Head Master of a primary school at Matbaria, Pirajpur is the latest victim of fake blasphemy charges (Tweet archived)
3) Teacher Utpal Kumar Sarkar died while undergoing treatment at Savar EMC at Dhaka’s Savar after he was hit with a cricket stump on June 25 (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.
