Hindus of the Bharatiya Subcontinent have been suffering brutalities, particularly in the Islamic nations created after partition. However, the hearts of ‘celebrities’ that bleed for Palestinians fail even to register the plight of Hindus of the subcontinent. Many ‘celebrities and influencers’ were seen batting for Rafah’s Palestinians in a completely one-sided narrative. The same ‘influencers’ have gone silent on the plight of Bangladeshi Hindus in the recent violence.

The plight of Bangladeshi Hindus

The ongoing violence in Bangladesh has impacted Bangladeshi Hindus the most. More than 54 incidents of attacks on Hindu minorities by Islamists were reported.

On August 5, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council released a report detailing a series of attacks on Hindu temples, houses, and businesses amidst ongoing political turmoil in Bangladesh. The attacks, which occurred within a span of five hours, were reported by the X handle Voice of Bangladeshi Hindus, with the actual number of incidents likely higher than the documented 54.

In Sherpur, the house of the Sribardi Upazila Youth Unity Council president was attacked, vandalized, and looted. Khulna saw multiple attacks: the houses of Shyamal Kumar Das and Swajan Kumar Das in Highgate village and the homes of Biman Bihari Amit, Animesh Sarkar Rinku, and Jayanta Gain, along with other minority residences, were targeted, vandalized, and looted.

In Feni, the Durga Mandir was attacked, while in Dinajpur, the Fulthala cremation ground was occupied, and five Mandirs, including the Kali Mandir, were vandalized. Minority Hindu homes in various villages were also attacked and looted. In Lakshmipur, the house and office of businessman Deepak Saha were attacked. In Chattogram, the house of Ujjal Chakraborty was looted.

Jashore witnessed arson in Dhopaidi Palpara village and extensive looting in Narikel Bariya and other areas. In Satkhira, minority shops were looted, and houses of Unity Council leaders were attacked and burnt. In Habiganj, Asit Baran Das’s shop was vandalized and looted. Minority homes in Lohagara, Narail, and Bogra were subjected to violent attacks.

Patuakhali saw the Radha Govinda Mandir and Ananta Mukherjee’s house vandalized and looted. Minority Hindu homes in Panchagarh were similarly targeted. In Noakhali, Sahadev Roy’s house was attacked, and in Thakurgaon, minority homes and a Mandir were vandalized and burnt.

Jhenaidah experienced ongoing attacks on minority homes and shops. In Pabna, Nilphamari, and Shariatpur, minority homes and temples were attacked. Journalist Dulal Saha’s house was also targeted. In Lalmonirhat, Amiya Prasad’s house was attacked. Mymensingh and Netrokona saw mob attacks on minority homes and temples.

In Chandpur, Haripada Das’s house was attacked, while in Narayanganj, Ram Doctor’s house faced an attempted attack. Videos and images of these attacks have gone viral on social media, though their authenticity remains unverified.

According to The Daily Star, Hindu homes and businesses were attacked in 27 districts. Notably, the houses of Pradip Chandra Roy and Muhin Roy in Lalmonirhat and Hindu homes in Kaliganj and Hatibandha were targeted. Dinajpur witnessed attacks on ten Hindu houses and a temple. Khulna saw ransacked homes of Oikya Parishad leaders, while Barishal, Bogura, Patuakhali, Sherpur, Narsingdi, Kishoreganj, Chattogram, Jashore, Satkhira, Habiganj, and Narail also reported extensive violence against Hindu communities.

The political instability in Bangladesh has left minority communities, particularly Hindus, vulnerable to Islamist mob attacks. Amid these atrocities, left-liberals and Islamists have been seen either denying or justifying the violence. The same cabal was crying bucketloads of tears for Rafah.

What happened in Rafah?

Sometime back, Rafah, the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip bordering Egypt, became a focal point of global attention. The Rafah crossing is the only exit for Gaza residents, but it was believed that Egypt only permits humanitarian aid through it and refuses Palestinian entry. However, recent Israeli military operations exposed tunnels from Rafah to Egypt, used by Hamas to enter Egypt, with Israel claiming Egypt’s awareness of these tunnels at an ICJ (International Court of Justice) hearing.

On May 26, Hamas launched rockets at Tel Aviv, prompting sirens and immediate shelter warnings. In retaliation, Israeli forces conducted an airstrike in a terrorist shelter in Rafah. However, Hamas and Palestine claimed that a tent camp housing displaced Palestinians was hit, reportedly killing 45 people, including children and the elderly, and injuring 200. Israel denied targeting civilians, stating the strike was aimed at a terrorist area and attributing the casualties to secondary explosions from Hamas-stored munitions.

Israel condemned Hamas’s use of civilian areas for military purposes and its misinformation campaigns. Despite successfully neutralizing two Hamas operatives, the airstrike drew condemnation from the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Israel expressed regret over the civilian casualties and initiated an investigation.

‘Celebrities & influencers’ campaign for Rafah

With the conflict in Israel escalating, several international and Indian ‘celebrities’ expressed their support for Palestinians and Hamas, particularly following the recent Rafah operation. An AI-generated image featuring tents in the desert with the caption “ALL EYES ON RAFAH” went viral on Instagram, amassing over 35 million shares within 24 hours.

Actors and actresses such as Malaika Arora Khan, Zareen Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Kriti Kharbanda, Nora Fatehi, DQ Salmaan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Tripti Dimri, Rakul Preet, Rahul Dua, Varun Dhawan, Nitanshi Goel, Urfi Javed, Swara Bhaskar, and Ahsaas Channa were among those who shared the same story on social media. Meanwhile, Huma Qureshi and Kareena Kapoor posted a message from UNICEF calling for a ceasefire in the region. Rohit Sharma’s wife, Ritika Sajdeh, veteran actress Madhuri Dixit, and several other celebrities shared similar stories but deleted them after facing immense public pressure.

The plight of Hindus of Subcontinental Islamic nations

The Hindus of the Subcontinental Islamic nations of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh have been suffering for a long time. Their persecution has continued unabated. Hindus in these nations are victims of rapes of Hindu girls and women, forcible conversion, illegal and forceful takeover of their properties, murders, and other unspeakable horrors.

Abduction, rape, forced conversion, and marriage of minor Hindu girls is a common occurrence in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Most such girls either end up dead, abandoned or trafficked after a few years of ‘marriage’ to much older Muslim men. At least 1000 minority girls suffer such sex slavery every year in Sindh province alone. Apart from this, Pakistani Hindus face systemic and institutionalized persecution and discrimination, such as frequent attacks on Hindu temples, demonization in education curriculum, bonded labour, untouchability, and antipathy of police and judiciary, leading to denial of basic human rights. 

Sufi dargahs like Bharchundi Sharif in Ghotki district, run by the notorious cleric-politician Mian Abdul Haq, aka Mian Mithoo and the Sarhandi Dargah in Samaro, Umerkot district run by Pir Mohammad Ayub Jan Sarhandi are centres of such forced conversions – it is alleged that girls taken there are also raped, video-graphed, assaulted and tutored on what statement to give to magistrates if their case ever reaches court.

Pakistani Hindus face systemic and institutionalized persecution and discrimination, such as abduction-rape-forced conversion-marriage of minor girls, frequent attacks on mandirs, demonization in education curriculum, bonded labour, untouchability, and antipathy of police and judiciary leading to denial of basic human rights. Thousands of Hindus and other minorities flee the country each year, most seeking refuge in Bharat.

The plight of Bangladeshi Hindus is no better. Attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh are relentless and designed to cleanse the religious minority from the country gradually. 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 using false blasphemy charges, hate speech, rape/forced conversion of women are some of the tools used to intimidate and drive Hindus out.

Hindus under attack in Bharat

The so-called majority community in its home country is slightly better off. However, the community faces persecution in several pockets of the country. Attack on Ram Navami and other religious festive processions, land jihad, grooming, and religious conversions are faced by the ‘majority’ in Bharat, too. Bharatiya Hindus have to deal with a hostile Judicial-Political setup. The Yashashree Shinde and Arvind Vaishya cases should act as eye-openers for Bharatiya Hindus. It is futile to expect pseudo-seculars and ‘celebrities’ to sympathize and empathize with, let alone speak up for, Hindus.