Ahead of the UK general elections slated for July 4, Hindu organisations in the United Kingdom have launched “The Hindu Manifesto UK 2024,” calling for the recognition of anti-Hindu hate as a religious hate crime.
Hindu Manifesto UK 2024 launched
The manifesto, released on June 8, outlines seven key demands from parliamentary candidates and the future government. In addition to the recognition of anti-Hindu hate as a religious hate crime, the demands include protecting places of Hindu worship, ensuring access to fairer education, providing equal representation and opportunities for Hindus, streamlining immigration processes, improving healthcare and social care, and acknowledging and protecting dharmic values.
The manifesto has garnered support from several parliamentary candidates. “The manifesto ushers in a unified voice of the UK Hindu community as representatives from diverse backgrounds and regions come together to champion the seven assurances,” stated the Hindu organisations. The document calls on all candidates to support the Hindu community in their constituencies.
Earlier this year, over 200 Hindu groups in the UK celebrated the consecration of Sri Ram Mandir in Ayodhyaji, hoping the UK would commemorate the event. The groups stated that this historic moment culminated five centuries of dedicated efforts.
Hindus under attack in the United Kingdom
Leicester in the United Kingdom (UK) witnessed unrest and violence against the Hindu community in August and September 2022. The violence that began in Leicester also had a cascading effect in other regions. The Centre for Democracy Pluralism and Human Rights (CDPHR) sent a team to ground zero to collect facts and ascertain the circumstances that led to the violence.
“The Hindu community of Leicester suffered a tragic incident when mobs of Muslim youths desecrated their beloved temple. In the preceding weeks, the community had faced a series of misinformation, harassment, intimidation, and attacks by violent mobs. In response, Hindu youth organised a peace march to show solidarity with the victims and offer hope during a time of fear and despair”, says the fact-finding team in its report.
The report also highlights how unrest and tension were spread to other English cities using misinformation about the Leicester violence. An emerging trend of anti-Hindu bias was observed in the reporting provided by both the English media houses at the time of the Leicester unrest. In its reporting of the incident, it made larger unsubstantiated speculations and claims of the unrest being fuelled by outside (foreign influence) and that Hindu nationalist groups from Bharat were somehow involved in spreading the misinformation.
Whilst investigative reports and facts suggest otherwise and the victimisation of the Hindu community using troupes about Hindu nationalist groups, such conspiracy theories against the Hindu community display clear signs of bias against the community and institutional Hinduphobia.
The report, in its fact-finding and investigative endeavour, concluded that the Hindu community was targeted using false narratives, misinformation and spurious accusations in a bid to victimise them with the ensuing violence. The Hindu community of Leicester stands falsely accused by the Muslim community of East Leicester and fully vindicated by investigative reports and Leicestershire police.
The Hindu Manifesto aims to fight this bias and ensure a dignified life for the Hindu diaspora of the UK.
(Featured Image Source: India Today)
