Persecution of Hindus (2/5)

1. 6. Haidar Ali and Tipu 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, ^[30] 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. ^[31] There are some historians ^[32] who claim that Tippu Sultan was a religious persecutor of Hindus.

C. K. Kareem also notes that Tippu Sultan issued an edict for the destruction of Hindu temples in Kerala. ^[33]

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. ^[34]

Hindu groups revile Tipu Sultan as a bigot who massacred Hindus. ^[35] He was known to carry out forced conversions of Hindus and Christians. ^{[36] [Need quotation to verify]}. According to Ramchandra Rao "Punganuri" Tipu converted 500 Hindus in Kodagu (Coorg). ^[37]

However this view must be contrasted against evidence that he corresponded with the Sringeri Shankaracharya - expressing grief and indignation at a raid by Maratha horsemen, which killed many and plundered the monastery of its valuable possessions ^[38]

B.A. Saletare has described Tipu Sultan as a defender of the Hindu dharma. He is praised for patronizing the Melkote temple , for which he issued a Kannada decree that the Shrivaishnava invocatory verses there should be recited in the traditional form. The temple at Melkote still has gold and silver vessels with inscriptions indicating that they were presented by the Sultan. Tipu Sultan also presented four silver cups to the Lakshmikanta Temple at Kalale. ^[39] There appears to be some evidence that he presented the Ranganatha temple at Srirangapatana with seven silver cups and a silver camphor burner. This temple was hardly a stone's throw from his palace from where he would listen to both the ringing of temple bells and the muezzin's call from the mosque. ^[40]

Some historians have argued that these acts happened after the Third Mysore war, where he had to negotiate on the terms of surrender. They claim that these acts could have been motivated by a political desire to get the support of his Hindu subjects.

1. 7. In Kashmir

The Hindu minority in Kashmir has also been historically persecuted by Muslim rulers. ^[41] While Hindus and Muslims lived in harmony for certain periods of time, several Muslim rulers of Kashmir were intolerant of other religions. Sultãn Sikandar Butshikan of Kashmir (AD 1389-1413) is often considered the worst of these. Historians have recorded many of his atrocities. The Tarikh-i-Firishta^[41] The 2000 Amarnath pilgrimage massacre was another incident where 30 Hindu pilgrims were killed on route to Amarnath temple.

^[42] Even now these continue by majority Muslim community there on indigenous Hindus. ^[43] records that Sikandar persecuted the Hindus and issued orders proscribing the residency of any other than Muslims in Kashmir. He also ordered the breaking of all "golden and silver images". The Tarikh-i-Firishta further states: "Many of the Brahmins, rather than abandon their religion or their country, poisoned themselves; some emigrated from their native homes, while a few escaped the evil of banishment by becoming Mahomedans. After the emigration of the Bramins, Sikundur ordered all the temples in Kashmeer to be thrown down. Having broken all the images in Kashmeer, (Sikandar) acquired the title of ‘Destroyer of Idols’".

2. During European rule of the Indian subcontinent

2. 1. Goa

Main article: Goa Inquisition

The Goa Inquisition, was established in 1560 by Portuguese missionaries. It was aimed primarily at Hindus and wayward new converts and by the time it was suppressed in 1774, the inquisition had had thousands of Hindus tortured and executed by burning. The British East India Company engaged in a covert and well-financed campaign of evangelical conversions in the 19th century. While officially discouraging conversions, officers of the Company routinely converted Sepoys to Christianity, often by force. This was one of the factors that led to the First Indian War of Independence. ^[44]

3. During the era of Nizam state of Hyderabad

Hindus were severely repressed under the autocratic dictatorial rule of the Nizam nawabs in Hyderabad state. The Hindu majority were denied fundamental rights by the Nizams of Hyderabad state. Hindus were called gaddaar (traitor) by Muslims in the Nizam state of Hyderabad. ^[45] Many Hindus were murdered, looted and thrown to jail. Construction of temples were declared illegal and Hindu scriptures like Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana were banned. ^[46]

Hindus were treated as second class citizens within Hyderabad state and they were severely discriminated against, despite the vast majority of the population being Hindu. The 1941 census estimated the population of Hyderabad to be 16.34 million. Over 85% of the populace were Hindus with Muslims accounting for about 12%. Hyderabad was also a multi-lingual state consisting of peoples speaking Telugu (48.2%), Marathi (26.4%), Kannada (12.3%) and Urdu (10.3%). Nonetheless, the number of Hindus in government positions was disproportionately small. Of 1765 officers, 1268 were Muslims, 421 were Hindus, and 121 were "Others" (presumably British Christians, Parsis and Sikhs). Of the officials drawing pay between Rs.600-1200 pm, 59 were Muslims, 38 were "Others", and a mere 5 were Hindus. The Nizam and his nobles, who were mostly Muslims, owned 40% of the total land in the kingdom. ^[47]

In 1947; Nizam, the ruler of Hyderabad refused to merge his kingdom with India. For the independence of the Islamic state of Hyderabad and to resist Indian integration, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, the then dominating political party persecuted Hindus and their 1,50,000 cadre strong militant wing named Razakars killed a number of Hindus under the leadership of Qasim Rizwi. ^[48]

4. Contemporary persecution

While the vast majority of Hindus live in Hindu-majority areas of India, Hindus in other parts of South Asia and in the diaspora have sometimes faced persecution.

4. 1. In the Indian subcontinent

4. 1. 1. Republic of India

Although the Indian government allows for freedom of religion, its constitution provides lesser rights and protection to Hindus vs. non-Hindus paving way for government confiscation of Hindu institutes and places of worship. More-over, Minority institutes also receive government patronage in form of Exemption from 2005 Amendment to the Article 15, 95% grant-in-aid, College Scholarship to pursue higher education. ^{[49] [50] [51] [52]}

What makes matters worse is that ruling political parties often subscribe to ideologies which are inherently hostile or prejudiced towards Hinduism. Thus, Hindu temples and institutes live under constant threat of ideologically motivated government take-over and subsequent destruction. For instance, State of Tamil Nadu is ruled by Dravidian parties for over two decades. Dravidian ideology believes in discredited racial theory of Aryan Invasion. It is openly anti Shri Ram, anti Sanskrit and anti Brahmin. Ruling ideology has a history of publicly issuing threats and has carried out those threats in many instances. ^{[53] [54] [55]} At some junctures, interpretation of the laws has also disadvantaged Hindus ^[56]

Many organizations feel that Hindu label is a liability. It exposes them to ideologically inspired attacks, places them at a financial disadvantage and paves way for government confiscation. As a result, several entities like Rama-Krishna Mission, Arya Samaj, etc. have filed law-suits and done intense lobbying to declare them self a non-Hindu minority religion. For Instance, in west Bengal, Rama Krishna Mission whose colleges and schools were in danger of hostile take-over by Marxist government petitioned the courts to have their organization and movement declared a non-Hindu minority religion. ^{[50] [51] [52] [57]}

Hindus from other countries hoping to come to India have also been treated unfavorably by the Indian government ^[58]

Recently the issue of Love Jihad created huge controversy in Southern India, although similar incidents were ignored in Northern India.

4. 1. 1. 1. Jammu and Kashmir

Kashmiri militants have engaged in attacks on Hindu pilgrims in both Kashmir and neighboring Jammu. Kashmiri militants have attacked Hindus in the region, as well as moderate Muslims suspected of siding with India. Kashmiri Pandit Hindus, who have been residents of Kashmir for centuries, have been ethnically cleansed from Kashmir by Islamic militants. ^{[59] [60]} In particular, the Wandhama Massacre in 1998 was an incident in which 24 Kashmiri Hindus were gunned down by Islamists disguised as Indian soldiers. Many Kashmiri Hindus have been killed and thousands of children orphaned over the course of the conflict in Kashmir.

4. 1. 1. 2. Northeast India

In Northeastern India, especially in Nagaland, Hindus are not able to celebrate Durga Puja and other essential festivals due to harassment and killing by Christian terrorist groups. In Tripura, ^[61] the NLFT, "National Liberation Front of Tripura", has targeted Swamis and temples for attacks. They are known to have forcefully converted Hindus to Christianity. ^{[62] [63]} The Baptist Church of Tripura is alleged to have supplied the NLFT with arms and financial support and to have encouraged the murder of Hindus, particularly infants. ^[64]

In Assam, members of the primarily Christian Hmar ethnic group have placed bloodstained crosses in temples and forced Hindus to convert at gunpoint. ^[65]

4. 1. 1. 3. Punjab

Main article: Punjab insurgency

The period of insurgency in Punjab around Operation Bluestar saw clashes of the Sikh militants with the police, as well as with the Hindu-Nirankari groups resulting in many Hindu deaths. In 1987, 32 Hindus were pulled out of a bus and shot, near Lalru in Punjab by Sikh militants. ^[66]

4. 1. 1. 4. Kerala

Kerala is a Hindu majority state but with the most slim majority in India. ^[67] Kerala has witnessed many riots and rebellions against Hindus throughout it history and more so in independent India; notably the Marad Massacre. Many Muslim organizations allegedly supported Love Jihad where Muslim boys targeted non-Muslim young girls, especially Hindu girls to convert them to Islam by feigning love. ^[68]

See also: Hinduism in India

4. 1. 2. Bangladesh

The HAF report documents the long history of anti-Hindu atrocities ^[69] in Bangladesh, ^[70] a topic that many Indians and Indian governments over the years have preferred not to acknowledge. Such atrocities, including targeted attacks ^[71] 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. ^{[72] [73]}

Bangladesh has had a troublesome history of persecution of Hindus as well. A US-based human rights organisation, Refugees International, has claimed that religious minorities, especially Hindus, still face discrimination in Bangladesh. ^[74] The government of Bangladesh, a nationalist party openly calls for ‘Talibanisation’ of the state. ^{[75] [76] [77]} However, the prospect of actually "Talibanizing" the state is regarded as a remote possibility, since Bangladeshi Islamic society is generally more progressive than the extremist Taliban of Afghanistan. Political scholars conclude that while the Islamization of Bangladesh is real, the country is not on the brink of being Talibanized. ^[75] In 1971 at the time of the liberation of Bangladesh from East Pakistan, the Hindu population accounted for 15% of the total population. Thirty years on, it is now estimated at just 10.5%. ^[78] The ‘Vested Property Act’ previously named the ‘Enemy Property Act’ has seen up to 40% of Hindu land snatched away forcibly. Since this government has come into power, of all the rape crimes registered in Bangladesh, 98% have been registered by Hindu women. Hindu temples in Bangladesh have also been vandalised. ^{[79] [80]} The United States Congressional Caucus on India has condemned these atrocities. ^[81]

Bangladeshi feminist Taslima Nasrin's 1993 novel Lajja deals with the anti-Hindu riots and anti-secular sentiment in Bangladesh in the wake of the destruction of the Babri Masjid in India. The book was banned in Bangladesh, and helped draw international attention to the situation of the Bangladeshi Hindu minority.

In October 2006, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom published a report titled 'Policy Focus on Bangladesh', which said that since its last election, 'Bangladesh has experienced growing violence by religious extremists, intensifying concerns expressed by the countries religious minorities'. The report further stated that Hindus are particularly vulnerable in a period of rising violence and extremism, whether motivated by religious, political or criminal factors, or some combination. The report noted that Hindus had multiple disadvantages against them in Bangladesh, such as perceptions of dual loyalty with respect to India and religious beliefs that are not tolerated by the politically dominant Islamic Fundamentalists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Violence against Hindus has taken place "in order to encourage them to flee in order to seize their property".The previous reports of the Hindu American Foundation were acknowledged and confirmed by this non-partisan report. ^[82]

On November 2, 2006, USCIRF criticized Bangladesh for its continuing persecution of minority Hindus. It also urged the Bush administration to get Dhaka to ensure protection of religious freedom and minority rights before Bangladesh's next national elections in January 2007. ^[82]

On the February 6, 2010, Sonargaon temple in Narayanganj district of Bangladesh was destroyed by Islamic fanatics. Five people were seriously injured during the attack. ^[83]

Persecution of Hindus (1/5)

 Persecution of Hindus refers to the religious persecution inflicted upon Hindus. Hindus have been historically persecuted during Islamic rule of the Indian subcontinent and during the Goa Inquisition. In modern times, Hindus in the Muslim-majority regions of Kashmir, Pakistan and Bangladesh have also suffered persecution.

 

1. During Islamic rule of the Indian sub-continent

The Muslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent led to widespread carnage because Muslims regarded the Hindus as infidels and therefore slaughtered and converted millions of Hindus. Will Durant argued in his 1935 book "The Story of Civilization: Our Oriental Heritage" (page 459):

“ The Mohammedan conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. The Islamic historians and scholars have recorded with great glee and pride the slaughters of Hindus, forced conversions, abduction of Hindu women and children to slave markets and the destruction of temples carried out by the warriors of Islam during 800 AD to 1700 AD. Millions of Hindus were converted to Islam by sword during this period. ”

 

There is no official estimate of the total death toll of Hindus at the hands of Muslims.

As Braudel put it: "The levies it had to pay were so crushing that one catastrophic harvest was" enough to unleash famines and epidemics capable of killing a million people at a time. Appalling poverty was the constant counterpart of the conquerors' opulence.

The backward castes of Hinduism suffered worst. Monarchs (belonging to backward castes) such as Khusrau Bhangi Khan, Hemchandra and Garha-Katanga were knocked off their throne and executed. Backward caste saints like Namadeva ^[1] were arrested, while women like Kanhopatra were forced to commit suicide. Ghisadis have an “Urdu” title. ^[2]

Prof. K.S. Lal, suggests a calculation in his book Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval IndiaMuslim Caste System in India as established by Ziauddin al-Barani in the Fatawa-i Jahandari. ^[3] where they were regarded as "Ajlaf" caste and subjected to severe discrimination by the "Ashraf" castes. ^[4] which estimates that between the years 1000 AD and 1500 AD the population of Hindus decreased by 80 million. Even those Hindus who converted to Islam were not immune from persecution, which was illustrated by the

1. 1. By Arabs

Muslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent began during the early 8th century, when the UmayyadDamascus, Hajjaj responded to a casus belli provided by the kidnapping of Muslim women and treasures by pirates off the coast of Debal, ^[5] by mobilizing an expedition of 6,000 cavalry under Muhammad bin-Qasim in 712 CE. Records from the campaign recorded in the Chach NamaSindhi forces and the enslavement of their dependents. This action was particularly extensive in Debal, of which Qasim is reported to have been under orders to make an example of while freeing both the captured women and the prisoners of a previous failed expedition. Bin Qasim then enlisted the support of the local Jat, Meds and Bhutto tribes and began the process of subduing and conquering the countryside. The capture of towns was also usually accomplished by means of a treaty with a party from among his "enemy", who were then extended special privileges and material rewards. ^[6] However, his superior Hajjaj reportedly objected to his method by saying that it would make him look weak and advocated a more hardline military strategy: ^[7] governor of record temple demolitions, and mass executions of resisting

 

“ It appears from your letter that all the rules made by you for the comfort and convenience of your men are strictly in accordance with religious law. But the way of granting pardon prescribed by the law is different from the one adopted by you, for you go on giving pardon to everybody, high or low, without any discretion between a friend and a foe. The great God says in the Koran [47.4]: "0 True believers, when you encounter the unbelievers, strike off their heads." The above command of the Great God is a great command and must be respected and followed. You should not be so fond of showing mercy, as to nullify the virtue of the act. Henceforth grant pardon to no one of the enemy and spare none of them, or else all will consider you a weak-minded man. ”

In a subsequent communication, Hajjaj reiterated that all able-bodied men were to be killed, and that their underage sons and daughters were to be imprisoned and retained as hostages. Qasim obeyed, and on his arrival at the town of Brahminabad massacred between 6,000 and 16,000 of the defending forces. ^[8] The historian, Upendra Thakur records the persecution of Hindus and Buddhists:

 

“ When Muhammad Kasim invaded Sind in 711 AD, Buddhism had no resistance to offer to their fire and steel. The rosary could not be a match for the sword and the terms Love and Peace had no meaning to them. They carried fire and sword wherever they went and obliterated all that came their way. Muhammad triumphantly marched into the country, conquering Debal, Sehwan, Nerun, Brahmanadabad, Alor and Multan one after the other in quick succession, and in less than a year and a half, the far-flung Hindu kingdom was crushed, the great civilization fell back and Sind entered the darkest period of its history. There was a fearful outbreak of religious bigotry in several places and temples were wantonly desecrated. At Debal, the Nairun and Aror temples were demolished and converted into mosques.[Resistors] were put to death and women made captives. The Jizya was exacted with special care.[Hindus] were required to feed Muslim travellers for three days and three nights. ^[9] ”

Other historians and archaeologists such as J E Lohuizen-de Leeuw, take the following stance regarding events preceding the sack of Debal:

 

“ In fact, we have clear evidence that the Arabs were very tolerant towards both Buddhists and Hindus during the rest of the campaign and throughout the time they ruled Sind...Of course that does not mean that no monuments were ever destroyed, for war always means a certain amount of damage to buildings but it does prove that there was no wanton and systematic destruction of each and every religious center of the Buddhists and Hindus in Sind. ^[10] ”

1. 2. Mahmud of Ghazni

Mahmud of Ghazni was an Afghan Sultan who invaded the Indian subcontinent during the early 11th century. His campaigns across the gangetic plains are often cited for their iconoclastic plundering and destruction of temples such as those at Mathura and he looked upon their destruction as an act of "jihad". ^[11]

Pradyumna Prasad Karan further describes Mahmud's invasion as one in which he put "thousands of Hindus to the sword" and made a pastime of "raising pyramids of the skulls of the Hindus". ^{[12] [13]} Holt et al. hold an opposing view, that he was "no mere robber or bloody thirsty tyrant" . Mahmud shed no blood "except in the exegencies of war", ^[14] and was tolerant in dealings with his own Hindu subjects, some of whom rose to high posts in his administration, such as his Hindu General Tilak ^[14]

Mahmud of Ghazni sacked the second Somnath Temple in 1026, and looted it of gems and precious stones and the famous Shiva lingam of the temple was destroyed . ^[15] Later the temple was demolished by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1706. ^[16]

1. 3. Muhammad Ghori

Muhammad Ghori committed genocide against Hindus at Kol (modern Aligarh), Kalinjar and Varanasi, according to Hasan Nizami's Taj-ul-Maasir, 20,000 Hindu prisoners were slaughtered and their heads offered to crows. ^[17]

1. 4. Timur the Lame's Campaign against India

Main article: Timur

Tīmūr bin Taraghay Barlas (Chagatai Turkic: تیمور - Tēmōr, "iron") (1336 - February 1405), known in the West as Tamerlane, was a 14th century warlord of Turco-Mongol descent, ^{[18] [19] [20] [21]}Timurid Empire and Timurid dynasty (1370-1405) in Central Asia, which survived in some form until 1857. Perhaps, he is more commonly known by his pejorative Persian name Timur-e Lang (Persian: تیمور لنگ) which translates to Timur the Lame, as he was lame after sustaining an injury to the leg in battle. conqueror of much of western and central Asia, and founder of the

Informed about civil war in India, Timur began a trek starting in 1397 to invade the territory of the reigning Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud of the Tughlaq Dynasty in the north Indian city of Delhi.

Timur crossed the Indus River at Attock on September 24. The capture of towns and villages was often followed by the massacre of their inhabitants and the raping of their women, as well as pillaging to support his massive army. Timur wrote many times in his memoirs of his specific disdain for the 'idolatrous' Hindus, although he also waged war against Muslim Indians during his campaign.

Timur's invasion did not go unopposed and he did meet some resistance during his march to Delhi, most notably by the Sarv Khap coalition in northern India, and the Governor of Meerut. Although impressed and momentarily stalled by the valour of Ilyaas Awan, Timur was able to continue his relentless approach to Delhi, arriving in 1398 to combat the armies of Sultan Mehmud, already weakened by an internal battle for ascension within the royal family.

The Sultan's army was easily defeated on December 17, 1398. Timur entered Delhi and the city was sacked, destroyed, and left in ruins. Before the battle for Delhi, Timur executed more than 100,000 captives.

Timur himself recorded the invasions in his memoirs, collectively known as Tuzk-i-Timuri. ^[22] In them, he vividly described the massacre at Delhi:

In a short space of time all the people in the [Delhi] fort were put to the sword, and in the course of one hour the heads of 10,000 infidels were cut off. The sword of Islam was washed in the blood of the infidels, and all the goods and effects, the treasure and the grain which for many a long year had been stored in the fort became the spoil of my soldiers. They set fire to the houses and reduced them to ashes, and they razed the buildings and the fort to the ground....All these infidel Hindus were slain, their women and children, and their property and goods became the spoil of the victors. I proclaimed throughout the camp that every man who had infidel prisoners should put them to death, and whoever neglected to do so should himself be executed and his property given to the informer. When this order became known to the ghazis of Islam, they drew their swords and put their prisoners to death.

One hundred thousand infidels, impious idolators, were on that day slain. Maulana Nasiruddin Umar, a counselor and man of learning, who, in all his life, had never killed a sparrow, now, in execution of my order, slew with his sword fifteen idolatrous Hindus, who were his captives....on the great day of battle these 100,000 prisoners could not be left with the baggage, and that it would be entirely opposed to the rules of war to set these idolaters and enemies of Islam at liberty...no other course remained but that of making them all food for the sword. ^[23]

According to Malfuzat-i-Timuri, ^[22] Timur targeted Hindus. In his own words, "Excepting the quarter of the saiyids, the 'ulama and the other Musalmans [sic], the whole city was sacked". In his descriptions of the Loni massacre he wrote, "..Next day I gave orders that the Musalman prisoners should be separated and saved."

During the ransacking of Delhi, almost all inhabitants not killed were captured and enslaved.

Timur left Delhi in approximately January 1399. In April he had returned to his own capital beyond the Oxus (Amu Darya). Immense quantities of spoils were taken from India. According to Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo, 90 captured elephants were employed merely to carry precious stones looted from his conquest, so as to erect a mosque at Samarkand — what historians today believe is the enormous Bibi-Khanym Mosque. Ironically, the mosque was constructed too quickly and suffered greatly from disrepair within a few decades of its construction.

1. 4. 1. Qutb-ud-din Aibak

Historical records compiled by Muslim historian Maulana Hakim Saiyid Abdul Hai attest to the iconoclasm of Qutb-ud-din Aybak. The first mosque built in Delhi, the "Quwwat al-Islam" was built after the demolition of the Hindu temple built previously by Prithvi Raj and certain parts of the temple were left outside the mosque proper. ^[24] This pattern of iconoclasm was common during his reign, although an argument goes that such iconoclasm was motivated more by politics than by religion. ^[25]

1. 4. 2. Iltutmish

Another ruler of the sultanate, Shams-ud-din Iltutmish, conquered and subjugated the Hindu pilgrimage site Varanasi in the 11th century and he continued the destruction of Hindu temples and idols that had begun during the first attack in 1194. ^[26]

1. 4. 3. Firuz Shah Tughlaq

Firuz Shah Tughluq was the third ruler of the Tughlaq dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. The "Tarikh-i-Firuz Shah" is a historical record written during his reign that attests to the systematic persecution of Hindus under his rule. ^[27] In particular, it records atrocities committed against Hindu Brahmin priests who refused to convert to Islam:

 

“ An order was accordingly given to the Brahman and was brought before Sultan. The true faith was declared to the Brahman and the right course pointed out. but he refused to accept it. A pile was risen on which the Kaffir with his hands and legs tied was thrown into and the wooden tablet on the top. The pile was lit at two places his head and his feet. The fire first reached him in the feet and drew from him a cry and then fire completely enveloped him. Behold Sultan for his strict adherence to law and rectitude. ^[27] ”

Under his rule, Hindus who were forced to pay the mandatory Jizya tax were recorded as infidels, their communities monitored and, if they violated Imperial ordinances and built temples, they were destroyed. In particular, an incident in the village of Gohana in Haryana was recorded in the "Insha-i-Mahry" (another historical record written by Amud Din Abdullah bin Mahru) where Hindus had erected a deity and were arrested, brought to the palace and executed en-masse. ^[27]

In 1230, the Hindu King of Orissa Anangabhima III consolidated his rule and proclaimed that an attack on Orissa constituted an attack on the king's god. A sign of Anangabhima's determination to protect Hindu culture is the fact that he named is new capital in Cuttack “Abhinava Varanasi.” His anxieties about further Muslim advances in Orissa proved to be well founded.

1. 5. In the Mughal empire

The Mughal Empire was marked by periods of tolerance of non-Muslims, such as Hindus and Sikhs, as well as periods of violent oppression and persecution of those people. ^[28] The reign of Aurangzeb was particularly brutal. No aspect of Aurangzeb's reign is more cited - or more controversial - than the numerous desecrations and even the destruction of Hindu temples. ^[28] Aurangzeb banned Diwali, placed a jizya (tax) on non-Muslims and martyred the ninth Sikh guru Tegh Bahadur. ^[28]

During his reign, tens of thousands of temples were desecrated: their facades and interiors were defaced and their murtis (divine images) looted. ^[28] In many cases, temples were destroyed entirely; in numerous instances mosques were built on their foundations, sometimes using the same stones. Among the temples Aurangzeb destroyed were two that are most sacred to Hindus, in Varanasi and Mathura. ^[29] In both cases, he had large mosques built on the sites. ^[28]

The Kesava Deo temple in Mathura, marked the place that Hindus believe was the birth place of Shri Krishna. ^[29] In 1661 Aurangzeb ordered the demolition of the temple, and constructed the Katra Masjid mosque. Traces of the ancient Hindu temple can be seen from the back of the mosque. Aurangzeb also destroyed what was the most famous temple in Varanasi- the Vishwanath Temple. ^[29] The temple had changed its location over the years, but in 1585 Akbar had authorized its location at Gyan Vapi. Aurangzeb ordered its demolition in 1669 and constructed a mosque on the site, whose minarets stand 71 metres above the Ganges. Traces of the old temple can be seen behind the mosque. Centuries later, emotional debate about these wanton acts of cultural desecration continues. Aurangzeb also destroyed the Somnath temple in 1706. ^[29]

Hindu nationalists claim that Mughals destroyed the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, located at the birthplace of Rama, and built the Babri Masjid on the holy site, which has since been a source of tension between the Hindu and Muslim communities.

Writer Fernand Braudel wrote in A History of Civilizations (Penguin 1988/1963, p. 232-236), Islamic rule in India as a "colonial experiment" was "extremely violent", and "the Muslims could not rule the country except by systematic terror. Cruelty was the norm - burnings, summary executions, crucifixions or impalements, inventive tortures. Hindu temples were destroyed to make way for mosques. On occasion there were forced conversions. If ever there were an uprising, it was instantly and savagely repressed: houses were burned, the countryside was laid waste, men were slaughtered and women were taken as slaves."

http://wapedia.mobi/en/Persecution_of_Hindus#1.

Pakistan Hindu Post: Persecution of Hindus in Pakistan and Pakistan Pilgrims to India

Hounded’ Hindus take shelter in Karachi cattle pen after drinking water from mosque, Pakistan


Karachi : In an incident which showcases the brutal hatred with which Hindus are seen in Pakistan, at least 60 members of the minority community, including women and children, were forced to abandon their house in Karachi’s Memon Goth area just because a Hindu boy drank water from a cooler outside a mosque.

Local tribesman, who hold a good clout in the area, thrashed several Hindus forcing them to run away and take shelter in a near by cattle pen, The News reports.

“All hell broke loose when my son, Dinesh, who looked after chickens in a farm, drank water from a cooler outside a mosque. Upon seeing him do that, the people of the area started beating him up,” said Meerumal, a resident of the area.

“Later, around 150 tribesmen attacked us, injuring seven of our people, who were taken to the Jinnah Hospital,” he added.
One of the injured, Heera, said that another 400 families of the area were also being threatened to leave their households and settle elsewhere.

“Our people are even scared of going out of their houses. We are also putting up with living in the filthy pen because we cannot go home for fear of being killed,” Heera said.

Police officials are aware about the incident, but they have failed to take any steps to stop the atrocities being meted out to theminority community.

“A trivial incident led to riots between the people of the area. Since both the communities happened to be illiterate, the matter just flared up,” said Memon Goth Station House Officer (SHO).

Meanwhile, Minority Affairs Minister Dr Mohan Lal has assured Hindus of full government protection.

“I have directed the DPO and the SHO to ensure that these people go back to their houses safely,” Lal said.
==========================
Rajasthan : India is known for her hospitality, but we are sorry to say that our experience with the officials here is nothing short of a nightmare,” says Satya Ramprakash, a member of a 65-member Hindu pilgrim group that has come from Pakistan.

The group wanted to visit various places of religious importance to the Hindus, but so harried it is that many of them are planning to dump the tour midway and return to Pakistan.

The 65-member group left Sindh in Pakistan on June 18 for India on a month-long pilgrimage. They arrived in Jodhpur the very next day and their trauma began then and there. Rules are such that besides registering with the local police, they have to have a guarantor in each city they visit. Their local guarantor at Jodhpur, Acharya Gopal, washed off his hands of their onward journey, once they reached there.
“Despite valid visa, we had to go to the court to file an affidavit, stating that we are from Pakistan and have come to India on a pilgrimage. We sought residential permit so that we could stay at some places during our month-long tour. It took us as many as eight days to complete the formality,” said Nagji Thakor, a person of Gujarati origin who lives at Virpur village in Sindh province.

“Since we could not check into any hotel, we had to spend our days at courts and offices and nights at railway station,” he added. That the group had many elderly persons and women did not move the officials.
However, they expressed their gratitude to local people. “People are friendly. They have helped us and guided us. It is the set of rules that has balked us. If you have such rules what is the fun in running Samjhauta Express?” said Sardara Prajapati.
He pointed out that many groups have travelled to India in the past, but they did not face such problems.

The group arrived in Ahmedabad on Sunday and ran into the “Bharat bandh” on Monday. After wasting a day, they went to the police commissioner’s office in Shahibaug on Tuesday morning. It took the entire day for them to register themselves.

“The recent change in rules and procedure has sapped our spirit and energy. Registration that should take a few hours is taking days and instead of praying at shrines we are spending time in courts and offices,” Goswami Bhairopriya Maharaj who is from Dingan village in Sindh.

“Many are contemplating going back to Pakistan. I am not sure how many of us will continue with the tour,” he added.
The group’s next stop is Radhanpur in north Gujarat. Their itinerary included visiting 150 small and big religious places across India during the 28-day tour. Some of the important places included Jodhpur, Barmer, Ahmedabad, Radhanpur, Mathura and Hardwar. They entered India in Samjhauta Express via Attari in Punjab.

Muslim persecution of Hindus in India

by Phyllis Chesler, Fox News 

The Story You Won't See In the Western Mainstream Media

They are crossing the border illegally and violently displacing the indigenous population whose homes and possessions they either destroy or occupy. They are attacking the young, the elderly, and especially the girls and women, whom they kidnap, forcibly convert, or traffic into brothels. The locals are terrified of them. The police rarely come to their aid, nor do the politically correct media or government. Both are terrified by the criminals and terrorists who are riding these immigrant waves.

I am not talking about illegal immigrants to Europe or North America. I am describing Muslims who are penetrating India’s West Bengal region. These Bangladeshi immigrants are becoming conduits for criminal activities (arms, drugs, and sexual slavery) which also fund global jihad.

You won’t read about this in the Western mainstream media - or even in the Indian media, which has turned a blind eye to this ongoing tragedy because they are afraid to be labeled “politically incorrect” or “Islamophobic.” They are also afraid of reprisals. When Islamic zealots ransacked the office of the renowned newspaper, ‘The Statesman’ in Kolkata, in retaliation for a mere reproduction of an article condemning Islamic extremism, the Indian press remained silent. The editor and publisher of the newspaper were arrested for offending Muslim sentiments and no action was taken against the rioters.

Fortunately, there are a few very brave Hindus who are taking a stand against the Muslim terror campaign in India. One of them is Tapan Ghosh, whom I had the privilege of meeting recently when he came to New York City to talk about anti-Hindu persecution in his homeland. In 2008, Ghosh founded “Hindu Samhati” (Hindu Solidarity Movement), which serves persecuted Hindu communities in both West Bengal and Bangladesh.

As Ghosh emphasized in our interview, the Muslim persecution of Hindus in India is nothing new. Over a period of 800 years, millions of Hindus were slaughtered by Muslims as infidels or converted by the sword. In 1946-1947, when British India was divided into India and Pakistan, Muslims massacred many thousands of Hindus in Calcutta, the capital of West Bengal, and all along the fault line which separated India and Pakistan. Anti-Hindu riots and massacres continued during the 1950s and 1960s, but it was in 1971, when East Pakistan broke away to form the country of Bangladesh, that things worsened for Hindus in the area.

As Ghosh explained to me, “The liberation movement for Bangladesh was characterized by an escalation of atrocities against the Hindus and pro-liberation Muslims. Hindus were specifically singled out because they were considered a hindrance to the Islamisation of East Pakistan. In March 1971, the government of Pakistan and its supporters in Bangladesh launched a violent operation, codenamed “Operation Searchlight,” to crush all pro-liberation activities. Bangladeshi government figures put the death toll at 300,000, though nearly 3 million Hindus were never accounted for and are presumed dead.” U.S. officials in both India and Washington used the word “genocide” to describe what took place.

According to Ghosh, there has recently been a sharp increase in incidents of “Muslim rioting during Hindu festivals, destruction of Temples, desecration of Deities, and large-scale, provocative cow slaughter.” Worse: “Hundreds, thousands, of Hindu girls have been kidnapped, trafficked into sexual slavery, or taken as second or third wives for wealthy Muslim men. In recent years, Ghosh’s organization has rescued nearly 100 such girls, and one of his main missions has been to help reintegrate those survivors into their families and societies.

Ghosh wants the Indian government to stop the illegal immigration from Bangladesh and to force the return of undocumented Muslims; to ban madrassas and polygamy; to enforce a single standard of law and education; and to arrest and prosecute known Muslim mafia kingpins and terrorists. He challenges the media to report on the anti-Hindu atrocities and to address the issue of religious apartheid.

Ghosh is not optimistic. “The establishment of massive Saudi-funded Madrasas across rural Bengal is only contributing to the growing religious extremism among Muslims, [and] implementation of Sharia laws by [Islamic] courts is quite prevalent in many villages.” His greatest fear, he tells me, is that one day shouts of “Allahu Akbar” will ring out across the land and that Muslim zealots will demand that Hindus either convert or leave West Bangal - or die.

Ghosh came to America not just to appeal to Indian-Americans with family and historical ties in West Bengal and Bangladesh but to appeal to all Americans for their support. As he sees it, the battle against Muslim persecution in India is just one front in a much larger battle against Islamic expansionism and terror throughout the world.

All Americans must realize, he told me, “that the war on Islamic terrorism cannot be won without curbing religious extremism amongst the Muslim masses, be it in the suburbs of Detroit or Delhi or villages in rural Bengal. And this will require the active support and cooperation with each other, ranging from cooperation at the highest level to those who work at the grassroots level. We hope that Americans and Westerners will come out and support the Hindus in Bengal in raising resources and creating awareness about our on-the-ground realities.”

Phyllis Chesler, Ph.D. is professor emerita of psychology and the author of thirteen books including "Woman’s Inhumanity to Woman" and "The New Anti-Semitism." She has written extensively about Islamic gender apartheid and about honor killings. She once lived in Kabul, Afghanistan. She may be reached through her website: www.phyllis-chesler.com.

Mirpur massacre of 1947: The forgotten people

Mirpur massacre of 1947

By Dr. Ram Chander Sharma

Courtesy : Kashmir Study Group

After the Timur massacre of Delhi in 1358, the massacre of Mirpur a bustling trade centre and historic walled city of Jammu and Kashmir now in Pak Occupied Kashmir on 25th of Nov. 1947 was the worst massacre of Indian history. As the offer of accession by Maharaja was accepted by Govt of India on 26th of Oct. 1947 after India and Pakistan gained independence, the ill fated Hindu and Sikh minorities living Muslim majority western areas of Jammu region and in Kashmir valley were waiting their Dooms day. The decision of accession of J&K with India and its completed merger with India as its integral part was celebrated like "Diwali" in Mirpur with lighting of candles and bursting of crackers. But, the recently declassified British Government documents reveal that the United Kingdom had decided that the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir or part of it must go to Pakistan for strategic reasons of importance, of Jhelum bridge, irrigation/hydroelectric potentials of Mangla dam in Mirpur for the economic needs of Pakistan and the need of an air base in western J&K close to Russia and China. The creation of Pakistan was itself for the strategic reasons to counter the growing military influence of Soviet Union after World War II. Due to its proximity with China and Russia, presence of warm water sea port of Karachi and the interests of western oil companies in central Asia made Pakistan important.

Soon after the independence, Pakistan conceived a military plan to attack Jammu and Kashmir. Code named "Gulmarg" it was placed under the close guidance of British military officers. Pashtun tribes Lashkers from Dir and Waziristan areas were roped in under the direct command of Col. Akbar Lone of Pak army code named Gen. Tariq and soon armed attacks and looting started in early Sept. in Poonch and Kotli area, about 400 looters entered Owen on 2nd and 3rd Sept, followed by Pak regular army and ex army men. The town of Bhimber fell at the same time when Indian troops were air lifted of Srinagar on 27th of Oct. 1947. The population of the town swelled from 3000 to 5000 with Hindu migrants from the adjoining areas. All assembled in a small tehsil building - women and children were taken hostage while the males were put to sword. Soon, other areas fell one after another and the focus of attention and sending the Indian reinforcement was valley centric as Pt. Nehru completely gave the command of troops movement to Sheikh Mohd Abdulla side lining Sardar Patel.

The population of Mirpur swelled from 10000 to 25000 with Hindus and Sikhs migrating form nearby areas and Jhelum. A garrison of Maharaja Forces were stationed in the town. People made the fortified defenses on the roof tops and on the ground by digging trenches and groups of youths were assigned the job of vigilance round the clock with primitive weapons. Many advances of the enemy were repulsed till the town fell on 25th Nov 1947. Pakistan army started using modern weapons and artillery to break the walls of town. There were no supply as the town was already cut off by the fall of Bhimber in October itself; the only hope was the air dropping of supplies of food and ammunition by air till the reinforcements of Indian army reach to push away the enemy. Frantic massages were sent to Jammu over the wireless by Maharaja Forces to Jammu but in vain. Many of the forceful attacks of the enemy were repulsed. A major attack was carried out by the enemy on 23rd of Nov 1947 from the main eastern gate and was repulsed by the death squads of Mirpuri youths in hand to hand fight. In a bad luck the only wireless equipment with the state forces broke down and the fresh stronger attack by the enemy forces on 24th morning frightened the state forces who left the battle scene with the information to the civil population to move to safer places. The ensuing fierce fighting through out the next night put the enemy at bay till morning when they broke the western gate of the city next morning by using heavy artillery. The blood thirsty Pak army and tribal marauder entered the city around 8 a.m. in the morning. Under chaos and confusion people ran around terrified and the city was set on fire by the invaders. Soon poison was distributed to the women to end their lives and not to fall into the hands of enemy. Many who didn't get the poison were done to deaths with swords by their fathers and bothers. The dance of death continued till afternoon and at the end of day 18000 people were slaughtered in most barbaric way of the human history by Pak army and tribls. Five thousand people most of them women and children were taken hostages and taken to Alibeg Gurudawara Sahib which was converted to a concentration camp. Only 2000 people could reach Janger on foot and then escorted by Indian army to Jammu refugee camp. The hapless women and young girls abducted went thorough worst sex orgies of rape and violence. The whole of Mirpur was latter dugout to loot the wealth worth billions of Rupees beside gold and silver

The other towns of Jammu province as Rajouri fell on 10th of Nov. where the population swell from 6000 to 11000 with the influx of refugees from the adjoining villages. Most of population was done to death and less than 100 could escape the jaw of death.

PoK Refugees the heroic Pohwari tribe who fought the foreign invaders from the ancient times are now living in abject poverty in camps and are told to be repatriated as soon as India takes back PoK areas which are the integral part of India through a resolution of Indian Parliament of 1994. Unlike the refuges of Indian Punjab and Bengal whose cases of compensation and land allotment were settled amicably by India and Pakistan, the PoK Refugees still are labelled as DPs of J&K and are not given the benefits of UN Refugee Status of 1951 or other benefits extended to Tibetan Refugees or migrants form Kashmir valley after 1989. The sacrifices of PoK Refugees of Muzaffarabad kept the enemy engaged for four days till the Indian army was air dropped in Srinagar e sacrifices of people of Mirpur delayed the enemy for a month till the besieged Poonch was freed and a vital link of Poonch to Jammu and western Punjab was saved from falling into the hands of Pakistan.

On this day Mirpur Balidan Divas is observed by the PoK Refugees in Delhi Jammu, Sunderbani, Poonch, Udhampur and other parts of India where the community is settled. It is still not too late for India to tell the world the other side story of Accession of Jammu and Kashmir with India and forward the case of genocide to UN to punish the perpetrators, settle all the demands and build a war memorial for the Martyrs of Mirpur.

Persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh

The Amsterdam-based Global Human Rights Defense is out with its annual report on human rights violations in Bangladesh. Here is the section that relates to atrocities on the hapless Hindu minority in 2008.

BACKGROUND

Until 1971 Liberation War, Hindus and Muslims worked together to liberate the country from Pakistan. During this period, an estimated two million East Pakistani citizens are believed to have been massacred, whilst an estimated ten million (mainly Hindu) fled to India.

The new President, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in his first speech to the nation, recognised the suffering of the Hindu population during the war. However, the Enemy Property Act of 1965 that was passed whilst Bangladesh was still part of Pakistan, a law discriminating against non-Muslim ‘enemies of the state’ by allowing their property to be confiscated, was not repealed and indeed was renamed as the Vested Property Act 1974. It allowed the expropriation of Hindu property to continue, leaving much bitterness amongst Bangladeshi Hindus.

Members of the Hindu community have lost 26 million acres of land from 1965 to 2006, while many others were forced to leave the country from 1964 to 2001 because of the communal conflicts and deprivation caused by the Act. The Hindu population percentage has reduced dramatically in the last 60 years.

CURRENT SITUATION

In 2008 Hindus were targeted due to inter-communal disagreements, quarrels over land or other disputes. Hindus were physically attacked, had their houses looted, temples destroyed and many women were raped.
Due to corruption, ignorance, and discriminatory attitudes, the police were often uncooperative when Hindu minorities attempt to obtain justice for crimes committed against them. In many cases, the police did not assist the victims to receive medical and/or legal assistance.

The police sometimes discouraged the victims from reporting about the crimes, or they did not investigate cases before accepting counter cases that led to the detention of the victims. Sometimes they recorded the case under a lower criminal charge than the actual crime deserved.

The ordinance No.16 of 2001 (Vested property Return Act) passed by the Awami League government was still not implemented. The Vested Property Act does not only have a legal implication, it also creates an ambience were violence against Hindus is tolerated.

CASES OF LAND GRABBING, ASSAULT AND MURDER AGAINST HINDUS

A Hindu’s land attacked by 50 armed persons
On 16 February 2008, about 50 armed people tried to commandeer the land of a Dhaka citizen. The owner and residents were severely injured and taken to a local hospital. The land in question had previously been the subject of a civil litigation that awarded ownership of the property to the assaulted victim. The owner filed a report against all 50 suspects, 24 of which have been arrested. The case is now pending trial. (GHRD 19-02-2008.)

Police inaction led to murder of a Hindu in Khulna
In Balarampur, a Hindu populated village in the Khulna district, a 50-year old Hindu man was killed for attempting to mediate a land dispute between his Muslim neighbours. On 27 April, his body was found hanging from a tree after being strangled to death. He had received many threats and reported them to the local chairman who did not take any measures.
Only after GHRD representatives investigated the situation did police authorities change the case to murder. Perpetrators have since been identified. (GHRD, 2008-27-04).

A Hindu family attacked in their home in Narayanganj
On the morning of 18 September 2008, a group of men armed with various sharp weapons attacked the home of a Hindu family in Doudpur Union, P.S. Rupganj, Narayanganj.
Gold ornaments amounting to Taka 95 000 were stolen and the family’s Goddess ‘Sawraswati’ was damaged. Most members of the family were injured, including a four year old boy and his mother, who was sexually assaulted and hit with iron rods and an axe.

After the police refused to cooperate and instead accepted a counter complaint against the family from one of the perpetrators, GHRD representatives intervened, helping to initiate an investigation (GHRD).

A man and his family intimidated by police to give up their land
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) reported on a family who had been asked by the Paikgachha police to give up their land without any lawful reason, after the husband had been held in detention for 12 hours on 31 March 2008. On 29 March 2008, the police informed the father of the family that he must surrender land. His refusal to do so resulted in his arbitrary arrest on false grounds of robbery and extortion, reversed only if he cooperated in giving up possession of his land.

Only after intervention by the Officer-in-Charge (OC) was he released. Since the incident the SI of police has continued to intimidate the family, insisting that they follow his instructions and give up their land. He and his family live in constant fear of their lives as well as of their property. Police authorities in Bangladesh often abuse their power, affecting many families in the area. (AHRC)

Family house burned following a dispute over land
On 23 March 2008, following a dispute over land, students and teachers of a Qwami madrasa (Islamic school) attacked a family house in Raiganj upazila. After damaging the furniture and looting valuables, they set the house on fire and beat up the family living inside, causing injuries to five people. The family had been threatened of being killed before and were abducted by the perpetrators, who wanted to evict them from the land. (The Daily Star 04-04-2008.)

Hindus continuously evicted from their land
Hindus of Sonaidanga beel in the Sinajganj district are continually under threat of being evicted from their land and are harassed with false cases to expedite their evacuation. From the 56.68 acres in their possession for a long time, only 28.36 acres of that land remain in their ownership.

Victims have complained several times to the local police and administration but no step has yet been taken to stop or punish the alleged perpetrators. A team of human rights activists including (among others) local organisations and Transparency International of Bangladesh, visited the area on Sunday 4 May in order to talk with victims and evaluate the situation. (New Age, 03-05-2008.)

CASE PROFILE: THE MURDER OF ASHIT BISWAS
On 20 March 2008, the remains of Ashit Biswas were found. Ashit, (32) disappeared in 2005 while serving as accountant in Gopalganj with the NGO Joy Rahman Foundation. It was suspected at the time of his disappearance that he had been murdered by the rich and powerful owner, Joy Rahman.
Although a complaint was filed in 2005 against Rahman and his associates, no proper investigation was ever made against him. Instead, a false counter-complaint was filed against the Biswas family, who were too poor to pursue legal action.
There were many uncertainties surrounding the disappearance and murder of Ashit Biswas, including the disappearance of police reports and evidence, but the circumstances pointed in the direction of Joy Rahman Foundation.

The case achieved a lot of attention in Swedish media because the alleged murderer, who had been granted Swedish citizenship, was freed after 8 years in a Swedish prison for another murder.

DESTRUCTION OF HINDU RELIGIOUS SITES

Hindu families attacked next to the Radha Govinda Temple in the Noakhali district
On 15 February 2008, three houses belonging to Hindu families, located next to the Radha Govinda Temple in the Parusurampur village, were attacked while religious services were being conducted. Hindu worshippers, women and children were seriously injured and taken to the local hospital. The police arrested the two suspects. (GHRD)

A Hindu Goddess temple demolished and desecrated
On 20 March 2008, during a celebration, some men entered the Murthi (a Hindu goddess) of Siddeswari Temple in the Munshiganj district and asked an illegal tax (jiizia tax) from all worshippers.

As the Hindu worshippers were not able to pay such an amount, the perpetrators demolished and desecrated the Temple. On suspicion, the police arrested a member of the municipality but eventually released him. (GHRD)

       Structure of 15 Vaishnava Graveyard of a Hindu orphanage  destroyed in the Patuakhali district

The structure of 15 Vaishnava Graveyard of a Hindu orphanage was destroyed on 14 April 2007 in the Patuakhali district. The perpetrators have not yet been identified
(Janakantha, 16 April 2008).

No Captures for Desecration of Hindu Minority Temples Narayanpur, Barisal: two temples were looted and demolished. On the night of 03 September 2008 the Murthi of Goddess, a Hindu idol in the Roy Bahadur Kali Temple, was demolished and desecrated in Hari Narayanpur at Noakhali.
A sense of discontentment prevails in Noakhali district. High officials in the district have begun investigations with the community registering a case against possible offenders. (The Daily Bengali ‘Jai Jai Din’, September 5 2008.)

500 year old Hindu temple destroyed

On 8 August, a private Hindu temple belonging to the head teacher of Chaitanyya High School of Gaila, Agailjhara Upazila, Barisal district was demolished, looted and desecrated by unknown perpetrators. This temple was 500 years old. The local Hindu community, including non communal forces, has condemned this incident. (The Daily Samakal August 25, Jai Jai Din, September 5 2008.)

MUSLIM PERSECUTION OF HINDUS IN INDIA

The Story of Islamic Imperialism in India is full of the rape, murder, enslavement, pillage, plunder, of desecration and despoliation Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists suffered at the hands of barbarous Muslim invaders.

Francois Gautier sums THE PERSECUTION this way, "In other parts of Asia and Europe, the conquered nations quickly opted for conversion to Islam rather than death. But in India, because of the staunch resistance of the 4000 year old Hindu faith, the Muslim conquests were for the Hindus a pure struggle between life and death. Entire cities were burnt down and their populations massacred. Each successive campaign brought hundreds of thousands of victims and similar numbers were deported as slaves. Every new invader made often literally his hill of Hindu skulls. Thus the conquest of Afghanistan in the year 1000, was followed by the annihilation of the entire Hindu population there; indeed, the region is still called Hindu Kush, 'Hindu slaughter'. The Bahmani sultans in central India, made it a rule to kill 100,000 Hindus a year. In 1399, Teimur killed 100,000 Hindus IN A SINGLE DAY, and many more on other occasions. 

Koenraad Elst quotes Professor K.S. Lal's "Growth of Muslim population in India", who writes that according to his calculations, the Hindu population decreased by 8O MILLION between the year 1000 and 1525. INDEED PROBABLY THE BIGGEST HOLOCAUST IN THE WHOLE WORLD HISTORY. (Negat.34)
 
But the Hindu "pagans" were far too numerous to kill them all. Hinduism too well entrenched in her people's soul, never really gave up, but quietly retreated in the hearts of the pious and was preserved by the Brahmins' amazing oral powers. Thus, realising that they would never be able to annihilate the entire Indian population and that they could not convert all the people, the Muslims rulers, particularly under the Hanifite law, allowed the pagans to become "zimmis" (protected ones) under 20 humiliating conditions, with the heavy "jizya", the toleration tax, collected from them."

Historian Will Durant wrote in his book The Story of Civilization:
"The Mohammadan conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization is a precarious thing, whose delicate complex of order and liberty, culture and peace may at any time be overthrown by barbarians invading from without or multiplying within."

Persecution of Hindus by Christians

 

Historical: Goa Inquisition

The "'Goa Inquisition"' was the office of the Inquisition acting in the Indian state of Goa]and the rest of the Portuguese empire in Asia. Established in 1560, the inquisition was aimed primarily at Hindus
with inquisitions against Indian Muslims, Indian Jews, and others.

By the time it was suppressed in 1774, the inquisition had had thousands of people [[death penalty|executed]] and tortured.

The French philosopher Voltaire wrote about the Goa Inquisition where he observed "Goa is sadly famous for its inquisition, which is contrary to humanity as much as to commerce. The Portuguese monks deluded us into believing that the Indian populace was worshipping the Devil, while it is they who served him"(Voltaire, Lettres sur l'origine des sciences et sur celle des peuples de l'Asie (first published Paris, 1777), letter of 15 December 1775)

Sephardic Jews living in Goa, many of whom had fled the Iberian Peninsula to escape the excesses of the Spanish Inquisition to begin with, were also persecuted.

The records speak of the necessity for hundreds of prison cells to accommodate fresh victims. Seventy-one "autos da fe" were recorded. In the first few years alone, over 4000 people were arrested, with 121 people burnt alive at the stake.

The Hindus of Goa were one of the most affected by the inquisition. The condemned Hindus were publicly burned at the stake in the square outside the Sé Cathedral in batches during ceremonies . Those who confessed to their accused heresy would be strangled prior to the burning. In this case, heresy was to practice a faith other than Christianity.

Historian R.N. Sakshena writes ".. in the name of the religion of peace and love, the tribunal(s) practiced cruelties to the extent that every word of theirs was a sentence of death"

Anti-Hindu laws and prohibitions

Laws were passed banning Christians from keeping Hindus in their employ, and the public worship of Hindus were deemed unlawful:
A large number of restrictive religious laws were enacted, including the banning of Hindu musical instruments and clothing. Hindu temples were converted or destroyed, and Christian churches built in their place, often from the materials of the temples they replaced. Throughout this period several important Hindu texts were burned in an effort to saturate the area with Christian religious texts.

Orders were issued that Hindu children who were orphaned be "taken immediately and handed over to the College of St. Paul of the society of Jesus of the said city of Goa, for being baptized, educated and indoctrinated by the Fathers of the said College and being directed by them and placed in positions according to their respective aptitudes and abilities". The order was endorsed by the viceroy of Goa, Antao de Noronha and the Governor, Antonio Moniz Barrette.While the original order applied only to orphans, there were frequent complaints that Hindu children with parents were kidnapped from their families and forcibly baptized. Some Hindu families secretly smuggled their children out of Goa. Other less fortunate Hindus paid extortion money to Christian priests to keep their children from being kidnapped and baptized.

Many Christian priests disagreed with these draconian measures and sympathized with the Hindus, generating a brief lull in the forced conversions. However, the "Father of the Christians", upon hearing of this, complained to the Archbishop and reinstated a new wave of forced conversions.

Several [[anti-Hindu]] laws were enacted with the expressed intent to "humiliate Hindus" and encourage conversions to Christianity. The viceroy ordered that Hindu pandits and physicians be disallowed from entering the capital city on horseback or palaquins, the violation of which entailed a fine. Successive violations resulted in imprisonment, Christian palaquin-bearers were forbidden from carrying Hindus as passengers.Christian agricultural laborers were forbidden to work in the lands owned by Hindus and Hindus forbidden to employ Christian laborersThe inquisition guaranteed "protection" to Hindus who converted to Christianity. Thus, they initiated a new wave of baptisms to Hindus who were intimidated by their brutality into converting
The inquisition supplied the ecclesiastic Jesuit priests with a strong state-sanctioned weapon to use against the Hindu population of the region. Moderate Catholics who tried to build bridges with Hindus were also persecuted. Even the governor of Goa from 1588-1591 was investigated when he consulted Hindu clerics about the auspicious dates concerning the arrival of ships. The adverse effects of the inquisition were tempered somewhat by the fact that Hindus were able to escape Portuguese hegemony]by migrating to other parts of the subcontinent
Hindus who were arrested for repeated violations of the laws were taken in by the inquisition to the "Palace of the Goa Inquisition" for "confessions". The confessions were attained by various torture techniques. Techniques included Hindus being tied up and having their feet burned slowly with sulphur, water torture techniques and racks o which the victims were manacled and their joints slowly dislocated by stretching. This "strappado" method was a particular favorite among the inquisitors. Thumb-screws and leg-crushers called Spanish boots were also employed. Often, boiling oil was poured on their legs and sulphur dropped on their bodies with lighted candles held beneath their armpits. Another technique involved fixing the victims to revolving tables and whirling them round until they were nauseous. These techniques were applied to the victims until they were weakened to the point of being persuaded to "convert" to Christianity and "confess".

Those who "confessed" were strangled to death and their corpses burned. Those who did not were burned alive at the stake. All the victims of the inquisition eventually had their shirts steeped in sulphur. Those who did not confess had their shirts painted with flames pointing upward. Those who did had their shirts painted with flamed pointing downward. They were taken from the palace to the Church during Sunday mass. Then, they were subjected to ridicule by the Christian parishioners. Once that ritual was complete, the non-confessors were strangled and their corpses, together with the living non-confessers, were "conducted to the Campo Sancto Lazaro" and burned at the stake in the presence of onlookers.

During the British Era, thousands of missionaries routinely defamed and denigrated Hinduism in books and pamphlets. they forcibly converted people to Christianity by kidnapping poor Hindus and forcing beef into their mouths, making them apostates by force and then torturing them to "confess" and convert. Then they would turn the converts against Hindus through propaganda and incite them into violence. It is these activities that led to the discontent among Hindus and Muslims in the great rebellion of 1857 and beyond.

In contemporary times,large parts of Northeastern India have become Christianized owing to the fervent activities of missionaries. In these states, especially Nagaland.Hindus are not able to celebrate Durga Puja and other essential festivals due to harassment and killing by Christian Terrorist groups. In Tripura, the "National Liberation Front of Tripura", a designated terrorist organization, has targeted Swamis and temples for attacks. The Baptist Church of Tripura, instilled there by Christian white supremacists from New Zealand, has supplied NLFT with arms and financial support and encouraged the murder of Hindus, particularly infants.A conventional tactic of the terrorists is to torch houses of Hindus with the residents still in it. They have been known to raid Hindu sanctuaries and shoot all the members. They have killed a total of 13,000 Hindus over the course of the 1990's before they split up and most of them surrendered to the Indian Army. Similarly, the Baptist Christians in Manipur in India have also committed anti-Semitism on the Bnei Menashe Jews of India, denying the Jewish Rabbis from Shavei Israel to tech them the Talmudic laws (with which they were unfamiliar since the Bnei Menashe left Israel before the Talmud was written and concluded by Rabbi Hillel).

Similar atrocities were committed by Fundamentalist Christian terror groups such as the Nagaland Rebels, converted to Christianity in the same way as most others (ie forcibly) and turned against Hindus.

Hindus in Fiji constitute approximately 38% of the population. During the late 90's there were several riots against Hindus by radical elements in Fiji. In the Spring of 2000, the democratically elected Fijian government led by Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry was held hostage by a guerilla group, headed by George Speight. They were demanding a segregated state exclusively for the native Fijians, thereby legally abolishing any rights the Hindu inhabitants have now. The Hindu minority are denied any land owning rights and are routinely attacked and harassed. Several dozen Hindu temples have been vandalized or destroyed by arson or looting.

The methodist church of Fiji repeatedly calls for the creation of a Christian State and has endorsed forceful conversion of Hindus after a coup d'etat in 1987.

Indians, predominantly Hindus, came as indentured laborers in 1838 to British Guyana and later to Trinidad, Jamaica, Grenada, St. Lucia, Martinique, Guadeloupe and Surinam. During the initial decades of Indian indenture, Indian cultural forms met with either contempt or indifference by the Christian majority. Hindus have made many contributions to Trinidad history and culture even though the state historically regarded Hindus as second-class citizens.Hindus in Trinidad struggled over the granting of adult franchise, the Hindu marriage bill, the divorce bill, cremation ordinance, and others.After Trinidad's independence from colonial rule, Hindus were marginalized by the African-based People's National Movement. The opposing party, the People's Democratic party, was portrayed as a "Hindu group", and other anti-Hindu tactics were used against them. Hindus were castigated as a "recalcitrant and hostile minority".Hindus were alienated by such Christian communal groups. The support of the PNM government to creole art forms in Carnivals, while their public rejection and ridicule of Hindu art forms, was a particular source of contention for the Hindu minority.The displacement of PNM from power in 1985 would improve the situation.

There has been persistent discontent among the Hindus with their marginalization. Many Christianized groups portray Hindus as "clannish, backward and miserly" (Just like Jews were characterized as such in Europe by Christians once).During the General Elections of 1986, the absence of the Bhagavad Gita and the Quran at polling stations for required oath-taking was interpreted as a gross insult to Hindus and Muslims. The absence of any Hindu religious texts at the official residence of the President of Trinidad and Tobago during the swearing in of the new Government in 1986 was perceived as another insult to the minority communities since they were represented in the government.The exclusivist Christian symbolism operative in the country's top national award, the Trinity Cross, has persistently stung Hindu religious sensibility. This was to climax in 1995 with the refusal of the Hindu Dharmaacharya to accept the award, while issuing a statement that his action should be seen as an opportunity for those in authority to create a national award that recognizes the plurality of religious beliefs in this country. The national education system and curriculum have been repeatedly accused of such majority-oriented symbolism. The use of discernibly Christian-oriented prayers at Government schools, the non-representation of Hinduism in approved school textbooks, and the lack of emphasis on Hindu religious observace evoked deep resentment from the Hindu community. Intensified protests over the course of the 1980s led to an improvement in the state's attitudes towards Hindus.The divergence of some of the fundamental aspects of local Hindu culture, the segregation of the Hindu community from Trinidad, and the disinclination to risk erasing the more fundamental aspects of what had been constructed as "Trinidad Hinduism" in which the identity of the group had been rooted, would often generate dissension when certain dimensions of Hindu culture came into contact with the State. While the incongruences continue to generate debate, and often conflict, it is now tempered with growing awareness and consideration on the part of the state to the Hindu minority. Hindus have been also been subjected to persistent proselytization by Christian missionaries.

Christian missionaries operate a network of hate sites and hate groups all over the world that spread misinformation and falsehoods against Hindus and incite others to attack and murder them.

While persecution by Christians is not generally as bad as persecution by Muslims, it can be bad enough and quite genocidal in it's intensity and intolerance (just look at what they have done to Jews over the course of 1000 years).

Finally, before we disscuss the RSS, I'm sure many people are not aware that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh works with several Christian groups in relief efforts. During the 2004-05 tsunami, RSS worked with the Catholic Bishop's Conference of India to distribute food and medicine to victims of the Tsunami.
http://www.hindu.com/2004/12/27/stories/2004122713750300.htm

RSS also funds Bible schools in villages with Christian groups and works with 7th -day adventist Christians in South India to build homes for the poor. In addition, Christian Priest Vincent Kundukullam has spoken favorably of RSS:
http://web.archive.org/web/20040722005929/http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/19980823/23550294.html
as has secular authors like Khushwant Singh (a Sikh, not a Hindu) and many Muslims also. RSS helped militancy-hit Muslim kids in Kashmir to be safe and get schooling:
http://news.oneindia.in/2006/06/25/jk-rss-adopts-militancy-hit-muslim-children.html
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=145&page=30

Courtesy : http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/74926