Anti-Hindu sentiment

Template:Discrimination2 Anti-Hindu prejudice is a negative perception against the practice and practitioners of Hinduism. This ideology is stated to be a form of religious intolerance. While stereotyping of Hindus in the west has decreased somewhat as a result of political activism of Hindus, it is possible to cultivate a negative perception of Hinduism by carefully conflating social evils as religious evils and portraying Hinduism as an evil religion.

There are several group within India and in other countries that are specifically anti-Hindu. In addition, anti-Hindu sentiments have been expressed by Muslims in Pakistan, Bangladesh, leading to significant Persecution of Hindus in those regions, such as the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities by Pakistan, and the recent demolition of Hindu temples in Malaysia [3] - [4].

Anti-Hindu stereotypes

Many anti-Hindu personalities, organizations, and even several academics in India, as well as in western countries are believed by some to be guilty of abusing the "Caste, Cows and Curry" stereotype against Hindus Individuals in the Indian diaspora have begun to protest that Western scholars "distort their religion and perpetuate negative stereotypes". Historically, such stereotypes were promulgated during the British Raj by several Indophobes in South Asia as a means to aggrandize sectarian divisions in Indian society, part of the divide and rule strategy employed by the British. Such allegations have seen a rise with the Hindu right using them for politics.

The Indian Caste System, a social stratification system in South Asia which has been criticized for its discriminatory problems, is uniquely blamed on Hindus and the religion of Hinduism. This is a common stereotype, as adherents of other religions such as Islam and Christianity also practice Caste segregations in India (for details, see Caste system among South Asian Muslims) and is generally regarded in India as a social issue, rather than a religious one. Several organizations in India and abroad have been criticized by Hindu advocacy groups for these types of attacks.

The devotion to bovine animals (regarded as holy in Hinduism) is also used as a pretext to mock the Hindu people by many in the west. In addition, the Hindu tradition of cremating their dead is used to mock the people.

Anti-Hindu attacks often accuse Hindus of being "Blasphemers" for committing "idolatry" and "polytheism" (Hinduism is more accurately described as henotheistic than polytheistic). Some Anti-Hindus have a mistaken interpretation of Hinduism, relating it more to Ancient polytheistic religions as opposed to one that relates to enlightenment or moksha. This accusation is prevalent among adherents of monotheistic religions like Islam and Christianity. Many Christian missionaries, particularly those of Fundamentalist Christianity, denigrate Hindu deities as "evil" or "demonic". Many advocacy groups in the west, such as the Hindu American Foundation and the Simon Wiesenthal Center have spoken against anti-Hindu bigotry and prejudice.

Historical instances of anti-Hindu views

See also: Persecution of Hindus

During Islamic Rule in the Indian Subcontinent

India has historically been subject to Islamic rule from the period of Muhammad bin Qasim to the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire, as well as smaller kingdoms like the Bahmani Sultanate and Tipu Sultans kingdom of Mysore. In almost all of those regimes, Hindus have had an inherently inferior status to the Muslim overlords. Hindus were first awarded the status of the "people of the book" (ahl-al-kitab) under bin-Qasim. Islamic law demands that when under Muslim rule "polytheists" or "infidels" be treated as dhimmis (from the Arab term) ahl-al-dhimma. Dhimmis were granted "protection" of life, the right to residence in designated areas, worship, and work or trade, and exemption from Muslim religious duties, personal law and tax on certain conditions such as paying the poll (jizyah) and land taxes as set by Muslim authorities (and mandated by Mansabdars and Zamindars). At the same time they were subject to various restrictions in relation to Muslims and Islam.

It can be argued that while, in theory, the idea of dhimmitude was anti-Hindu, in practice, the Islamofascist rulers were more pragmatic and did not wish to disparage or oppress educated , literate and often industrious Hindus who could be used in their service. Muslim conquerors such as Muhammad bin-Qasim was believed to develop more liberal attitudes towards Hindus as his regime developed over time. Also, the Muslim Emperor Akbar, had a Hindu prime minister Birbal in his employ, whom he regarded very highly.Akbar was well-known to exhibit religious tolerance and pluralism during his reign. In addition, Muslim rulers such as Tipu Sultan, had Hindus in his employ as well.

During the Muslim conquest of South Asia, Muslim scholars would often chronicle the conquests of Hindu regions, the desecration of Hindu temples and the massacres of Hindu populations with gusto and glee. Works such as the Chach-Nama, Baburnama, Tarikh-i-Yamini,Tarikh-i-Feroze-Shahi and others describe how "polytheists" were "rightly killed" and honor bestowed upon Muslims and Islam. It can be argued that some degree of poetic license should be taken into account in these writings.

Several Islamic scholars, theologians and Emperors held virulently anti-Hindu stances during the Islamic invasion of India. They regarded Hindus as "infidels" who had to be slaughtered with no mercy. In particular, the Arab invaders in the 8th century held anti-Hindu attitudes, such as the testament of the superior of Muhammad bin-Qasim, Hajjaj, who quoted the Quran to justify the slaughter of Hindus.

Barrani

Under the reign of Muhammad bin Tughlaq, the Muslim cleric Ziauddin Barrani wrote several works, such as the Fatwa-i-Jahandari, which contained disparaging statements against Hindus. Barrani has been described as a "fanatical protagonist of Islam" and wrote that there should be "an all-out struggle against Hinduism", advocating a militant and dogmatic religiosity. He developed a system of religious elitism to that effect.

Aurangzeb

The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb was accused of being anti-Hindu and was accused of destroying many Hindu temples and other places of worship, though was also the Moghul Emperor who hired the largest number of Hindus in his royal court.. Aurangzeb adopted various measures to promote Islam in its wholesome moral standards. The imposition of Jizya on the Hindus in 1679 which was an anti Hindu policy by Hindu nationalists resulted in the rise of the Rajput in a revolt in 1669. This struggle continued till 1681 when Aurangzeb made peace with the Rajputs. Another sect the supposedly anti-Hindu policy of Aurangzeb affected were the Satnamis. Aurangzeb crushed their revolt. Next was the revolt of the Jats of Mathura which was an opposition to the policy and oppression under Aurangzeb. Though they were suppressed in the early period they carried on the struggle till the death of Aurangzeb.

Tippu Sultan

The attitudes of Muslim ruler Tippu Sultan have been criticized as anti-Hindu. While some Marxist historians claim that he had an egalitarian attitude towards Hindus and was harsh towards them only when politically expedient, others, including British scholars of the period, noted a systematic hatred of Hindus in Tipu. Newspaper reports from the 1780s confirm that Tippu was a cruel ruler.[5] In the first part of his reign in particular he appears to have been notably more aggressive and religiously doctrinaire than his father, Haidar Ali. There are several historians who claim that Tippu Sultan was a religious persecutor of Hindus. In 1780 CE he declared himself to be the Padishah or Emperor of Mysore, and struck coinage in his own name without reference to the reigning Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II. H. D. Sharma writes that in his correspondence with other Islamic rulers such as Shah Zaman of Afghanistan, Tippu Sultan used this title and declared that he intended to establish an Islamic Empire in the entire country, along the lines of the Mughal Empire which was at its nadir during the period in question. His alliance with the French was supposedly aimed at achieving this goal by driving his main rivals, the British, out of the subcontinent.

In addition, H.D. Sharma points out that, contrary to the claims of other scholars such as Mohibbul Hasan, he did not carry out the conversions as a punitive measure for rebellion, but as part of a campaign to eradicate Hinduism from his kingdom. In addition, he cites examples such as Tippu's conquest of Malabar in 1788 CE, when he appointed a "Shaikh ul-Islam" in each village to carry out forced conversions in an organized manner. This was primarily done to the well-educated Nair Hindus in the region, including those in Coorg, as Tippu perceived their intellect to be a threat to his Islamic rule. C. K. Kareem also notes that Tippu Sultan issued an edict for the destruction of Hindu temples in Kerala.

Historians such as Sharma cites letters that Tippu wrote to the Ottoman Sultan in 1792 CE as proof of his claims of Tippu's religious persecution. In the letters Tippu expressed his disdain for Hindus as "polytheists" and "infidels", as well as his intent to Islamize his territories.Sharma further states that Tippu's disdain for Hindus manifested in the fact that he ranked his army according to Muslim Castes, with the Arab-descended Ashraf castes at the top ranks, the converted "Ajlaf" castes at the middle ranks, and Hindus at the lowest rank. Mir Hussain Ali Khan Kirmani wrote in his Neshan-e Haidari that Tippu "developed a great aversion to Brahmins, Hindus and other tribes and he did not consider any but the people of Islam to be his friends, and, therefore, on all accounts, his chief object was to promote and provide for them. At this time he tried to eliminate Hindu worship from his territory. He confiscated funds from the temples being intended to balance the loss of revenue derived so far from intoxicating substances, the production of which he has banned earlier." Tippu also changed the names of towns from Dravidian names to Urdu ones. He destroyed Calicut because it was named after Kali, then depopulated the surrounding areas to repopulate the renamed town of "Ferozabad". The Hindus "returned jubilant" when the town was liberated.

Historian Hayavadana C. Rao wrote about Tippu in his encyclopaedic work on the History of Mysore. He asserted that Tippu's "religious fanaticism and the excesses committed in the name of religion, both in Mysore and in the provinces, stand condemned for all time. His bigotry, indeed, was so great that it precluded all ideas of toleration". He further asserts that the acts of Tippu that were constructive towards Hindus were largely political and ostentatious rather than an indication of genuine tolerance.

Whilst no scholar has denied that, in common with most rulers of his period, Tippu’s campaigns were often characterised by great brutality, some historians claim that this was not exclusively religiously motivated, and did not amount to a consistent anti-Hindu policy. Brittlebank, Hasan, Chetty, Habib and Saletare amongst others argue that stories of Tippu's religious persecution of Hindus and Christians are largely derived from the work of early British authors such as Kirkpatrick and Wilks, whom they do not consider to be entirely reliable. A. S. Chetty argues that Wilks’ account in particular cannot be trusted. Irfan Habib and Mohibbul Hasan argue that these early British authors had a strong vested interest in presenting Tippu Sultan as a tyrant from whom the British had "liberated" Mysore. This assessment is echoed by Brittlebank in her recent work

During Portuguese rule in Goa

During the Portuguese rule in Goa , thousands of Hindus were coerced into accepting Christianity by passing laws that made it difficult to practice their faith, harrassing them under false pretenses or petty complaints and giving favourable status to converts and mesticos in terms of laws and jobs . It is alleged that during the Goa Inquisition, thousands of Goan Hindus were massacred by Portuguese rulers, starting from the year 1560. The inquisition was proposed by St. Francis Xavier

During the British Raj

During the British rule of the Indian Subcontinent, several evangelical Christian missionaries spread anti-Hindu propaganda in India during the 19th century as a means to convert them to Christianity. Examples include missionaries like Abbe J.A. Dubois, who wrote that, in order to make a "New race of Hindus", the foundations of Hindu civilization have to be undermined, and they be turned into "Atheists and barbarians".

In Charles Grant highly influential "Observations on the ...Asiatic subjects of Great Britain" (1796), Grant criticized the Orientalists for being too respectful to Indian culture and religion. His work tried to determine the Hindu's "true place in the moral scale", and he alleged that the Hindus are "a people exceedingly depraved".

In the West

File:Anti-Hindu propaganda.jpg

Anti-Hindu leaflet launched by fundamentalist Christian churches

Academia

Elements in Western Academia have been accused for 'defaming and denigrating' Hinduism with the purpose of a political agenda to meant to segregate and marginalize the growing Hindu communities in the west, in much the same way that anti-Semitism has evolved in the same part of the world. Accusations of slander and racist libel against Hindus such as those of Wendy Doniger and Michael Witzel have achieved relative prominence in certain circles in recent years.

Claims of Bias against Hindus in South Asian Studies have been made. Such real or perceived bias can imply 'old-fashioned' and 'prejudiced' outsider interpretations of Eastern cultures and peoples.

The Hindu American Foundation, together with organizations like the American Jewish Committee, have worked to counter biases against Hindus and Jews in college campuses like Stanford University. Both groups claim to have identified cases of academic hostility against both minorities.

Society

By the late 19th century, fear had already begun in North America over Chinese immigration supplying cheap labor to lay railroad tracks, mostly in California and elsewhere in the West Coast. In xenophobic jargon common in the day, ordinary workers, newspapers, and politicians uniformly opposed this "Yellow Peril". The common cause to eradicate Asians from the workforce gave rise to the Asiatic Exclusion League. When the fledging Indian community of mostly Punjabi Sikhs settled in California, the xenophobia expanded to combat not only the East Asian Yellow Peril, but now the immigrants from British India, the Turban Tide, equally referred to as the Hindoo Invasion (sic). Although "Hindu" is the correct spelling , the spelling "Hindoo" was popular at the time.

The rise of the Indian American community in the United States has brought about some isolated incidences of attacks on them, as has been the case with many minority groups in the United States. Attacks specific to Hindus in the United States stem from what is often referred to as the "racialization of religion" among Americans, a process that begins when certain phenotypical features associated with a group and attached to race in popular discourse become associated with a particular religion or religions.The racialization of Hinduism in American perception has led to perceiving Hindus as a separate group and contributes to prejudices against them.

In addition, there have been anti-Hindu views that are specific to the religion of Hinduism as well as mistaken racial perceptions. Christian televangelists such as Pat Robertson in the United States has made remarks that are regarded as anti-Hindu, if not racist, denouncing Hinduism as "demonic" and evoking similar canards against Hinduism. These remarks were widely condemned and rebutted by Indian Americans and many non-partisan advocacy groups.Other Fundamentalist Christian evangelicals such as Albert Mohler have defended the anti-Hindu remarks and made disparaging statements about Hinduism as "satanic", laced together with anti-Buddhist and Islamophobic rhetoric.

In 2001, an American talk show host Tony Brown, made several derogatory anti-Hindu remarks in his talk show on WLS 890 AM that began with the concern among American workers about the influx of software engineers from India. he evoked anti-Hindu canards such as exaggerating the importance of the Caste System in Hinduism, and made patent falsehoods about Human Rights in India. Protests by Indian-American community leaders led to the radio host publicly apologizing for his remarks against Hindus and Hinduism. In his apology, Brown said:

The statements I made were derived from either books or articles that I read. Still, I had not considered the possibility of bigots using the information to persecute the Hindu minority in this country.That does not excuse me from the pain that I have caused by not being more circumspect.

After his apology, Brown also invited Swami Atmajnanananda of the Washington branch of the Ramakrishna Mission and an Indian journalist based in Chicago, J V Lakshmana Rao, to participate in the talk show. Atmajnanananda said one must draw a distinction between caste and casteism. He said:

The assumption that Hindus are inherently racists is dangerous.Caste does not play a role in one's occupation any more. One should not use the pitfalls of the Indian culture to attack Hinduism.

Refuting Brown's statement that lower castes were being persecuted in India, Rao spoke of affirmative actions in favor of the lower castes by the Government of India.

On April 28,2004, an article on the Denver Post, authored by thoracic and general surgeon and a commentator on National Public Radio in USA Pius Kamau, portrayed the entire Indian community and the Hindus with "bigoted views". Widespread letter-writing and protests from the Indian American community, the Denver post responded by conveying the writer and editor's apologies.

On May 6 of that year, Denver Post also published a strong rebuttal to the original article By P.K. Vedanthan titled "Healing ethnic wounds".

In 2005, The Hindu American Foundation protested against the defamation of Hinduism in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle alleging the false anti-Hindu canard of rape being a "just punishment for criminal behavior". The author removed the statement following the protest.

In the same year, HAF also protested against an anti-Hindu article published in the Los Angeles Times where the writer, Paul Watson also equates Hinduism with the worship of cows and snakes.

The Russian Orthodox Church has recently endorsed several anti-Hindu remarks, referring to the Hindu deity Krishna as an "evil demon". For details, see Hinduism in Russia.

In South Asia

Afghanistan

The Taliban regime in Afghanistan was known for its extremist attitudes and views on Islam, including their strict enforcement of Islamic sharia law in the society. The Taliban regime declared that Hindus would be required to wear badges in public identifying themselves as Hindus, ostensibly to "protect them". This was part of the Taliban's plan to segregate "un-Islamic" and "idolatrous" communities from Islamic ones.

The decree was regarded as an anti-Hindu one by several lawmakers and congressmen in the United States, as well as by the Indian Government. There were widespread protests against this decree in both India and the United States.In the United States, chairman of the Anti-Defamation League Abraham Foxman compared the decree to the practices of Nazi Germany, where Jews were required to wear labels identifying them as such. In the United States, congressmen wore yellow badges on the floor of the Senate during the debate as a demonstration of their solidarity with the Hindu minority in Afghanistan.

Pakistan

In Pakistan, anti-Hindu sentiments and beliefs are widely held among many sections of the population. There is a general stereotype against Hindus in Pakistan. Hindus and Jews are regarded as "miserly". Also,Hindus are often regarded as "Kaffirs" and blamed for "causing all the problems in Pakistan".Islamic fundamentalist groups operating within Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan have broadcasted or disseminated anti-Hindu propaganda among the masses, referring to Hindus as "Hanood" and blaming them for "collaborating with the foreigners" against the people of the region.

The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), a coalition of Islamist political parties in Pakistan, calls for the increased Islamization of the government and society, specifically taking an anti-Hindu stance.The MMA leads the opposition in the national assembly, held a majority in the NWFP Provincial Assembly, and was part of the ruling coalition in Balochistan. However, some members of the MMA made efforts to eliminate their rhetoric against Hindus.

The public school curriculum in Pakistan was Islamized during the 1980s. This included the adoption of a number of textbooks that included derogatory remarks against minority religious groups, particularly Hindus and Jews, and the generalized teaching of religious intolerance as acceptable. The government of Pakistan claims to undertake a major revision to eliminate such teachings and to remove Islamic teaching from secular subjects. The bias in Pakistani textbooks was also documented by Y. Rosser (2003). She wrote that

in the past few decades, social studies textbooks in Pakistan have been used as locations to articulate the hatred that Pakistani policy makers have attempted to inculcate towards their Hindu neighbours”, and that as a result "in the minds of generations of Pakistanis, indoctrinated by the 'Ideology of Pakistan' are lodged fragments of hatred and suspicion.

(Rosser 2003)

The bias in Pakistani textbooks was studied by Rubina Saigol, Pervez Hoodbhoy, K. K. Aziz, I. A. Rahman, Mubarak Ali, A. H. Nayyar, Ahmed Saleem, Y. Rosser and others.

A study by Nayyar & Salim (2003) that was conducted with 30 experts of Pakistan's education system, found that the textbooks contain statements that seek to create hate against Hindus. There was also an emphasis on Jihad, Shahadat, wars and military heroes. The study reported that the textbooks also had a lot of gender-biased stereotypes. Some of the problems in Pakistani textbooks cited in the report were:

Insensitivity to the existing religious diversity of the nation”; "Incitement to militancy and violence, including encouragement of Jehad and Shahadat”; a “glorification of war and the use of force”; "Inaccuracies of fact and omissions that serve to substantially distort the nature and significance of actual events in our history"; “Perspectives that encourage prejudice, bigotry and discrimination towards fellow citizens, especially women and religious minorities, and other towards nations” and “Omission of concepts ... that could encourage critical self awareness among students”. (Nayyar & Salim 2003).The Pakistani Curriculum document for classes K-V stated in 1995 that "at the completion of Class-V, the child should be able to "Understand Hindu-Muslim differences and the resultant need for Pakistan.

[pg154]

A more recent textbook published in Pakistan titled "A Short History of Pakistan" edited by Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi has been heavily criticized by academic peer-reviewers for anti-Hindu biases and prejudices that are consistent with Pakistani nationalism, where Hindus are portrayed as "villains" and Muslims as "victims" living under the "disastrous Hindu rule" and "betraying the Muslims to the British", characterizations that academic reviewers fond "disquieting" and having a "warped subjectivity".

The Government of Pakistan does not restrict religious publishing; however, the Government restricts the right to freedom of speech with regard to religion. Ameer Hamza, a leader of the banned terrorist group Lashkar-e-Toiba, wrote a highly derogatory book about Hinduism in 1999 called "Hindu Ki Haqeeqat" ("Reality of (a) Hindu"); he was not prosecuted by the Government.

Several Islamic clerics in Pakistan have broadcasted anti-Hindu sentiments, such as Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, founder of the Jamaat-e-Islami in Pakistan, who has gone so far as to criticize moderate Muslims in the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind for their composite nationalist theory which "exposed Muslim India to the serious dangers of religio-cultural absorption into Hinduism".

The country has been prmoting their anti-Hindu, Islamofascist agenda in Kashmir as documented by Hindus which dates back to the Islamist invasion of India [6][7].This agenda also includes prmoting violence against Hindus and Jews as well as prmoting terrorist activity in Kashmir.

Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, the ruling Bangladesh National Party is regarded as an anti-Hindu party, and reportedly encourages anti-Hindu views and sentiments among the Muslim majority. Prominent political leaders frequently fall back on "Hindu bashing" in an attempt to appeal to extremist sentiment and to stir up communal passions. In one of the most notorious utterances of a mainstream Bangladeshi figure, the current Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, while leader of the opposition in 1996, declared that the country was at risk of hearing "uludhhwani" (a Hindu custom involving women's ululation) from mosques, replacing the azaan (Muslim call to prayer) (eg, see Agence-France Press report of 18 November 1996, "Bangladesh opposition leader accused of hurting religious sentiment").

Even the supposedly secular Awami League is not immune from this kind of scare-mongering. The current leader of the opposition, Sheikh Hasina, while Prime Minister, was alleged to have accused Bangladeshi Hindu leaders in New York of having divided loyalties with "one foot in India and one in Bangladesh". Successive events such as this have contributed to a feeling of tremendous insecurity among the Hindu minority.

The fundamentalists and right-wing parties such as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jatiya Party often portray Hindus as being sympathetic to India, making accusations of dual loyalty and allegations of transferring economic resources to India, contributing to a widespread perception that Bangladeshi Hindus are disloyal to the state. Also, the right wing parties claim the Hindus to be backing the Awami League.

As widely documented in international media, Bangladesh authorities have had to increase security to enable Bangladeshi Hindus to worship freely following widespread attacks on places of worship and devotees.

India

Most Neo-Buddhists are Dalits who have converted to Buddhism. The centuries-long mistreatment of the Dalits in Indian society are often exploited by Neo-Buddhist leaders to rake up prejudices and hatreds against Hindu people.

Anti-Hindu sentiments also come from far-left groups who support Islamic Terrorism and Islamic Fundamentalism against Hindus. Islamist groups who have anti-Hindu views include Students Islamic Movement of India, terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Fundamentalist Christian missionary organizations spread anti-Hindu propaganda in order to incite people into converting to Christianity. In 2006, a Kerala based Christian evangelist named M.G. Mathew released an anti-Hindu book titled 'Haqeeqat' (Hindustani for 'reality') and had Christian Fundamentalist organizations like the All-India Christian Council distribute the text in the Indian state of Rajasthan. The book attacked Hindu and Jain beliefs and practices and was widely criticized as a propaganda tool created for missionary purposes. The book is presently banned by the Indian government (for details see: Haqeeqat).

In addition, extremist fringes within the broader movement for the legitimate emancipation for the Dalits, such as Dalit Voice have expressed anti-Hindu views and sentiments, demanding the eradication of Hindus and expressing support for various Islamist groups around the world, as well as support for anti-semitic ideologies such as holocaust denial.They have also alleged that Indian Jews, together with Jews in the west, are engaged in a systematic conspiracy with Hindu Brahmins in India to "crush Muslims, Blacks and India's [ largely Hindu ] Dalits".

Other Countries

South Africa

South Africa is home to a small Hindu minority. In 2006, the son of a firebrand Islamic cleric named Ahmed Deedat, circulated a DVD that denounced South African Hindus. The elder Deedat, former head of the Arab funded "Islamic Propagation Centre International" (IPCI), had previously circulated an anti-Hindu video in the 80's where he said that Indian Muslims were 'fortunate' that their Hindu forefathers 'saw the light' and converted to Islam when Muslim rulers dominated some areas of India. His video was widely criticized. While Hindus in South Africa have largely ignored the new anti-Hindu DVD circulated by Deedat Junior, he has been severely criticized by local Muslims, including other members of the IPCI.The IPCI said in a statement that Yusuf Deedat did not represent the organisation in any way. Deedat Junior, undeterred by the opposition from his own brethren, continues to circulate the material.He has placed advertisements in newspapers inviting anyone to collect a free copy from his residence to see for themselves "what the controversy is about".

Anti-Hindu crimes

See Also: Persecution of Hindus

Recently, hate crimes against Hindus have risen in European countries such as the United Kingdom and Russia. In the UK, many Hindus have been assaulted and killed. However, a strong undercurrent of deliberate Hinduphobia does exist in many radical fringe elements of British society, for example, certain members of the British National Party and various Neo-Nazi groups that have been classified by advocacy organizations such as the anti-defamation league as hate groups. In Russia, hate crimes against Hindus has risen both due to racial ideologies perpetrated by rising Neo-Nazi factions, as well as religious intolerance exhibited by some elements of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Hate crime statistics against Hindus in North American countries are unavailable. However, it is believed that sporadic bouts of communal and institutional hatred against Hindus have occurred, though their frequency may have decreased in recent years. In the late 1980s a Jersey City street gang calling themselves the "Dotbusters" targeted, threatened and attacked South Asians, specifically Hindus.

On July 20, 2006, The Hindu American Foundation represented Hindus as a part of a coalition of civil rights, educational and religious submitting comments to the Department of Justice on its implementation of the Hate Crime Statistics Act (HCSA). Enacted by Congress in 1990, the HCSA requires the Justice Department to acquire data on crimes which "manifest prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity" from law enforcement agencies across the country and to publish an annual report of its the findings.

HAF report

The Hindu American Foundation, an advocacy group for Hindus, released a report in 2005 on the status of the human rights of Hindus, mainly in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the Kashmir valley. The report attempts to increase awareness of anti-Hindu views propagated and used to justify violations of the human rights of many Hindus in the region. The report introduces as:

Human rights are by definition universal. Hence, in an ideal world there would be no need to write a separate report on the human rights of Hindus, or for that matter any other group. In the real world, unfortunately, there is a gaping hole when it comes to the awareness of human rights for Hindus, mainly in Bangladesh, Pakistan and in the Kashmir valley.

The 71-page report compiles media coverage and firsthand accounts of human rights violations perpetrated against Hindus because of their religious identity. The incidents are documented, often quoting from well-known international human rights organizations.The Hindu American Foundation presented the report to the co-chairs of the US Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican, and Gary Ackerman, a Democrat. Both of these members of Congress endorsed it.Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean and co-founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, praised the HAF for the report.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center welcomes this report which will help the international community and Non-governmental Organizations to have a broader understanding of the human rights situation in that important region of the world.

Several academics on campuses around the U.S. also reviewed this year’s report. Florida International University Professor of religious Studies, Nathan Katz, remarked on the promulgation of various anti-Hindu sentiments recorded in the report:

“This report by the Hindu American Foundation…is a real eye-opener”.“As a minority in Islamic societies that consider them to be ‘idolaters,’ Hindus in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan face unimaginable persecution routinely.

The report documents the long history of anti-Hindu atrocities in Bangladesh, a topic that many Indians and Indian governments over the years have preferred not to acknowledge. Such atrocities, including targeted attacks against temples, open theft of Hindu property, and rape of young Hindu women and enticements to convert to Islam, have increased sharply in recent years after the Jamat-e-Islami joined the coalition government led by the Bangladesh National Party.

The report concludes with:

Some Indians may feel uncomfortable with this report because they do not want to be reminded about the problems of Hindus outside their milieu. And for some in the Indian intelligentsia, it is a badge of honour to distance themselves from these pogroms as a mark of their supposed enlightenment, oddly trashing their own ethos in the process. Many more Indians are reluctant to speak out against atrocities committed against Hindus for fear of being labeled "communal". Merely speaking about human rights for Hindus is for them a form of communalism

The people whose persecution is amply documented in this report are being persecuted because they are Hindu, not because they are poor or because of their political views. Human rights activists in Bangladesh and Pakistan, many of whom are not Hindus, have painstakingly documented the violations of basic human rights of Hindus in their country.

See also

• Hinduism
• Persecution of Hindus
• Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab 1947

Further reading

• Talib, Gurbachan (1950). Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab 1947. India: Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee.Online 1 Online 2 Online 3

Links

• Crimes against Hindus, Sikhs on the rise in UK: Report
• Introduction of "decadent" Hindu culture in Nagaland, anti-Hindu propaganda
• 'HAQEEQAT' has denigrated Hindu deities
• Strategic Planning For Evangelization of Hindus through misinformation and propaganda
• Row over Krishna temple in Moscow