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Anti-Hindu sentiment, sometimes also referred to as Hinduphobia, is a negative perception, sentiment or actions against the practitioners or religion of Hinduism. It exists in many contexts in many countries, often due to historical conflict. There is also scholarly debate on what constitutes Hinduphobia in the Western World.
According to the religious dialogue activist P. N. Benjamin, some Christian evangelists denigrate Hindu gods and consider Hindu rituals barbaric, and such attitudes have caused tensions between religious communities.[5][6]
A Muslim preacher apologised for insulting Hinduism in 2014, after an uproar.[9]
Hindus have historically been, and continue to be, considered Kafirs by some Muslims[10] and Heathen, Satanic or Demonic by some Christians.[11]
The Taliban government in Afghanistan, which enforced strict sharia (Islamic law), announced plans to require all Hindus (and Sikhs) to wear identifying badges in public in May 2001 as part of the Taliban's campaign to segregate and repress "un-Islamic and idolatrous segments" of Afghan society.[12][13] At the time, about 500 Hindus and 2,000 Sikhs remained in Afghanistan.[14]
Religious persecution, discrimination of Hindus has caused Afghanistan's Hindu population to dwindle.[18] Sikhs and Hindus are continuing to flee from Afghanistan as of July 2020.[19]
In Bangladesh political leaders frequently face controversy for spreading anti-Hindu sentiment in an attempt to appeal to religious extremists and incite community outrage.[20] One of the most well known instances of this occurred in 1996 when Khaleda Zia a previous Prime Minister, and then leader of the opposition, declared that the country was at risk of hearing "uludhhwani" (a Bengali Hindu custom involving women's ululation) from mosques, replacing the azaan (Muslim call to prayer).[21]
More secular parties, such as the Bangladesh Awami League have also faced criticism for expressing anti-Hindu sentiment. The current prime minister Sheikh Hasina, allegedly accused Bangladeshi Hindu leaders in New York of having divided loyalties with "one foot in India and one in Bangladesh".[22]
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.[23]
On 28 February 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, the Vice President of the Jamaat-e-Islami to death for the war crimes committed during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. Following the sentence, Jamaat-e-Islami activists attacked Hindu communities across the country. Hindu properties were looted and burned down, and temples were desecrated and set on fire.[24][25] While the government has held the Jamaat-e-Islami responsible for the attacks on the minorities, the Jamaat-e-Islami leadership has denied any involvement. The minority leaders have protested the attacks and appealed for justice. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has directed the law enforcement to start suo motu investigation into the attacks. US Ambassador to Bangladesh express concern about attack of Jamaat on Bengali Hindu community.[26][27] The violence included the looting of Hindu properties and businesses, the burning of Hindu homes, and desecration and destruction of Hindu temples.[28] According to community leaders, more than 50 Hindu temples and 1,500 Hindu homes were destroyed in 20 districts.[29] On 5 May 2014, A mob of almost 3,000 attacked Hindu households and a temple in eastern Bangladesh after two youths from the community allegedly insulted the Islamic prophet, Muhammad on Facebook.[30][31][32]
In 2023, while speaking at a conference organized by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Artists, film producer and politician Udhayanidhi Stalin said that sanatana had to be "eradicated" because it was regressive and against equality.[33]
In March-April 2024, a Christian church in Andhra Pradesh came to attention when a video showing that the church's footwalk tiles consisted of sacred Hindu symbols of Om and Swastika went viral on social media and sparked outrage. Following the backlash, the tiles containing those symbols were removed by the church.[34][35][36]
On 27th August, 2024, a temple was vandalised in Hyderabad.[37] There was a massive protest after the vandalism and there is evidence that the men who vandalised the temple were Owaisi's men.[38][39]
In September 2024, stones were pelted at Ganesha idol processions in many parts of India.[40][41][42][43][44] The police were also attacked in many places but managed to seize the swords used to attack the devotees; petrol bombs were also used to set shops on fire.[45] In another incident, the Ganesh idol was taken from the demonstrators by the police, who then secured it in an unoccupied police van, the snaps of which went viral online, as well as in newspapers; some claimed it was, "belittling" to do so.[46][47][48]
In April 2006, local authorities demolished several Hindu temples to make way for developmental projects. Their reason was that these temples were unlicensed and squatting on government land. In April and May 2006, several Hindu temples were demolished by city hall authorities in the country, accompanied by violence against Hindus.[49] On 21 April 2006, the Malaimel Sri Selva Kaliamman Temple in Kuala Lumpur was reduced to rubble after the city hall sent in bulldozers.[50]
The president of the Consumers Association of Subang and Shah Alam in Selangor had been helping to organise efforts to stop the local authorities in the Muslim dominated city of Shah Alam from demolishing a 107-year-old Hindu temple. The growing Islamization in Malaysia is a cause for concern to many Malaysians who follow minority religions such as Hinduism.[51]
On 11 May 2006, armed city hall officers from Kuala Lumpur forcefully demolished part of a 60-year-old suburban temple that serves more than 1,000 Hindus. The "Hindu Rights Action Force", a coalition of several NGO's, have protested these demolitions by lodging complaints with the Malaysian Prime Minister.[52] Many Hindu advocacy groups have protested what they allege is a systematic plan of temple cleansing in Malaysia. The official reason given by the Malaysian government has been that the temples were built "illegally". However, several of the temples are centuries old.[52]
According to a lawyer for the Hindu Rights Action Task Force, a Hindu temple is demolished in Malaysia once every three weeks.[53]
A group of Malaysian Muslims protested against the construction of a Hindu temple in a Muslim-majority neighborhood, using a cow's head in the demonstration, sparking concerns about racial and religious tensions in the country.[54]
In Pakistan, Hindus are often regarded as kafirs (unbelievers) and blamed for "causing all the problems in Pakistan".[55] On Pakistan Day, the Pakistan Army dropped leaflets in South and North Waziristan warning tribesmen about foreigners and their local supporters, using the term "Yahood Aur Hanood" (Jews and Hindus) to describe the perceived enemies. The leaflets aimed to differentiate between the war on terror and local tribes, urging vigilance against intruders.[56] At the time of Pakistan's creation the 'hostage theory' had been espoused. According to this theory the Hindu minority in Pakistan was to be given a fair deal in Pakistan in order to ensure the protection of the Muslim minority in India.[57][58]
Separate electorates for Hindus and Christians were established in 1985—a policy which was originally proposed by Islamist leader Abul A'la Maududi. Christian and Hindu leaders complained that they felt excluded from the county's political process, but the policy had strong support from Islamists.[59]
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.[60]
The public school curriculum in Pakistan was Islamized during the 1980s.[61] The government of Pakistan claims to undertake a major revision to eliminate such teachings and to remove Islamic teaching from secular subjects.[60] 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."[62]
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 Jihad 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. [p. 154]
A more recent textbook which was published in Pakistan and 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 found "disquieting" and having a "warped subjectivity".[63][64][65]
Ameer Hamza, a leader of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, wrote a highly derogatory book about Hinduism in 1999 called "Hindu Ki Haqeeqat" ("Reality of (a) Hindu"); he was not prosecuted by the Government.[66]
According to the Sustainable Development Policy Institute report 'Associated with the insistence on the Ideology of Pakistan has been an essential component of hate against India and the Hindus. For the upholders of the Ideology of Pakistan, the existence of Pakistan is defined only in relation to Hindus, and hence the Hindus have to be painted as negatively as possible'[67] A 2005 report by the National Commission for Justice and Peace a non profit organization in Pakistan, found that Pakistan Studies textbooks in Pakistan have been used to articulate the hatred that Pakistani policy-makers have attempted to inculcate towards the Hindus. "Vituperative animosities legitimise military and autocratic rule, nurturing a siege mentality. Pakistan Studies textbooks are an active site to represent India as a hostile neighbour", the report stated. "The story of Pakistan's past is intentionally written to be distinct from, and often in direct contrast with, interpretations of history found in India. From the government-issued textbooks, students are taught that Hindus are backward and superstitious." Further the report stated "Textbooks reflect intentional obfuscation. Today's students, citizens of Pakistan and its future leaders are the victims of these partial truths".[68][69][70][71]
An editorial in Dawn discussed a report by The Guardian noted that state-run schools, promoted extremism and bigotry. It highlighted that textbooks in Pakistani state schools propagate concepts like jihad, the inferiority of non-Muslims, and hostility towards India, which foster a bigoted and obscurantist mindset.[72][73] According to a study by a US government commission, textbooks in Pakistani schools foster prejudice and intolerance of Hindus and other religious minorities, and most teachers view non-Muslims as enemies of Islam.[74] According to historian Professor Mubarak Ali, textbook reform in Pakistan began with Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's introduction of Pakistan Studies and Islamic Studies in 1971. General Zia-ul-Haq later intensified historical revisionism, exploiting these reforms to promote a religiously exclusive narrative, which has contributed to intolerance and extremism. The broader context includes issues with outdated and biased textbook content, with reform efforts struggling to address these problems comprehensively.[75]
Outside Asia
Australia
In April 2024, a Hindu woman named Swastika Chandra from Sydney was banned from using the Uber app because it considered her first name (Swastika) to be offensive and related to Nazism. Swastika is a hindu symbol of divinity and spirituality, however it's perception in other parts of the world is different due to the adoption of the symbol by the Nazi Party in the early 20th century. After a period of six months, Uber exempted the ban and apologized for the misunderstanding.[76]
Fiji
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By the time Fiji gained independence from colonial rule, Hindus and other Indo-Fijians constituted nearly fifty percent of the total Fijian population. Nevertheless, the colonial-era laws and the first constitution for Fiji, granted special rights to native Fijians.[citation needed] These laws relegated Hindus as second class citizens of Fiji without full rights. For example, it denied them property rights, such as the ability to buy or own land. Hindus and other Indo-Fijians have since then not enjoyed equal human rights as other Fijians. They can only work as tenant farmers for Fijian landlords.[77] The difference in human rights has been a continuing source of conflict between "native" Fijians and Indo-Fijians, with native Fijians believing Fiji to be their ancestral land that only they can own, and Indo-Fijians demanding equal rights for all human beings.[citation needed][dubious – discuss]
Beyond land ownership, Hindus have been persecuted in the Fijian communal structure. Spike Boydell states, "the [colonial authorities] introduced the divisive and unworkable system of communal representation and communal electoral rolls. Thus, different communities were represented by their own kind. This still extends to schooling in a prevailing quasi apartheid educational system."[78]
During the late 1990s, Fiji witnessed a series of riots by radical native Fijians against Hindus (and other Indo-Fijians). In the spring of 2000, the democratically elected Fijian government led by Prime MinisterMahendra Chaudhry, who was a Hindu, was held hostage by a group headed by George Speight. They demanded a segregated state exclusively for the native Fijians, thereby legally abolishing any human rights the Hindu inhabitants held up until then. Hindu owned shops, Hindu schools and temples were destroyed, vandalized and looted.[79][80]
After the Leicester riots in October 2022, Hindu groups were set to boycott a review by Dr. Chris Allen, the review's head, because of perceived lack of impartiality.[82]
A national report in the UK found that 51% of Hindu parents reported their children facing Anti-Hindu hate in schools, and found that schools had failed to monitor and address the issues. It also reported several cases of physical assault as well as beef being thrown at a student.[83]
Conservative Party
In October 2018, it was reported that Conservative Party candidate for the Mayor of LondonShaun Bailey had written a pamphlet, entitled No Man's Land, for the Centre for Policy Studies. In it, Bailey argued that accommodating Hindus "[robs] Britain of its community" and it is also turning the country into a "crime riddled cess pool". He also claimed that South Asians "bring their culture, their country and any problems they might have, with them" and that this was not a problem within the black community "because we've shared a religion and in many cases a language".[84] In the pamphlet, Bailey confused the Hindu religion with the Hindi language: "You don't know what to do. You bring your children to school and they learn far more about Diwali than Christmas. I speak to the people who are from Brent and they've been having Hindi (sic) days off."[85]
James Cleverly, the Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, defended Bailey and suggested that Bailey's remarks were being misconstrued. He implied that black boys were turning to crime due to exposure to other religions rather than focusing on "their own Christian culture." However, the anti-racism organization Hope Not Hate condemned Bailey's comments as "grotesque."[86] However, the anti-racism Hope Not Hate campaign group called Bailey's comments "grotesque".[87]
The rise of the Indian American community in the United States has triggered some isolated attacks on them, as has been the case with many minority groups in the United States. Attacks which specifically target 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 which are 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 Americans to perceive Hindus as belonging to a separate group and this contributes to prejudices against them.[88]
In 2019, Swaminarayan Temple in Kentucky was vandalised. They sprayed black paint on the deity and sprayed "Jesus is the only God" on the walls. The Christian cross was also spray painted on various walls.[89][better source needed] In April 2015, a Hindu temple in north Texas was vandalised when nasty images were spray-painted on its walls. In February 2015, Hindu temples in Kent and the Seattle Metropolitan area were also vandalised.[90][91]
In July 2019, a Hindu priest wearing his religious attire was physically assaulted by Sergio Gouveia in Queens, New York, just two blocks from Shiv Shakti Peeth Temple in Glen Oaks. A Senator and the New York State Attorney General have labeled it a hate crime, stating, "If someone is targeted because of religious robe and a couple of blocks from the temple where he resides, it is difficult to believe this was random." However, the New York police have not classified it as a hate crime.[92][93]
Pat Robertson
In addition, anti-Hindu views have been expressed which are specifically based on misperceptions of the religion of Hinduism as well as mistaken racial perceptions. In the United States Pat Robertson has denounced Hinduism as "demonic", believing that when Hindus "feel any sort of inspiration, whether it's by a river or under a tree, on top of a hill, they figure that some God or spirit is responsible for that. And so they'll worship that tree, they'll worship that hill or they'll worship anything."[94] His remarks were widely condemned and disputed by Indian Americans and members of many non-partisan advocacy groups.[95]Evangelical leader Albert Mohler defended Robertson's remarks, saying "any belief system, any world view, whether it's ZenBuddhism or Hinduism or dialectical materialism for that matter, Marxism, that keeps persons captive and keeps them from coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, yes, is a demonstration of satanic power."[96]
In July, 2007, The United States Senate conducted its morning prayer services with a Hindu prayer,[97] a historical first. During the service, three disruptors, named Ante Nedlko Pavkovic, Katherine Lynn Pavkovic and Christen Renee Sugar, from the Fundamentalist Christian activist group Operation Save America[98] protested by arguing that the Hindu prayer was "an abomination", and they also claimed that they were "Christians and Patriots". They were swiftly arrested and charged with disrupting Congress.[99][100]
The event generated a storm of protest by Christian right groups in the country, with the American Family Association (AFA) opposing the prayer and carrying out a campaign to lobby senators to protest against it.[101][102] Their representative attacked the proceedings as "gross idolatry".[98] The AFA sent an "Action Alert" to its members in which it asked them to e-mail, write letters, or call their Senators and ask them to oppose the Hindu prayer, stating that it is "seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god."[103][104][105] The "alert" stated that "since Hindus worship multiple gods, the prayer will be completely outside the American paradigm, flying in the face of the American motto One Nation Under God."[106] The convocation by Zed was in fact disrupted by three protesters in the gallery reportedly shouting "this is an abomination" and other complaints.[103]
A controversy in the US state of California concerning the portrayal of Hinduism in history textbooks began in 2005. A protest was led by Vedic Foundation (VF) and the American Hindu Education Foundation (HEF) by complaining to the California's Curriculum Commission, saying the coverage in sixth grade history textbooks of Indian history and Hinduism was biased against Hinduism; and points of contention includes a textbook's portrayal of the caste system, the Indo-Aryan migration theory, and the status of women in Indian society as the main features of Hinduism.
The Dotbusters was a hate group in Jersey City, New Jersey, that attacked and threatened Indian-Americans in the fall of 1987.[109] The name originates from the bindi traditionally worn by Hindu women and girls on their forehead. In July 1987, they had a letter published in the Jersey Journal[110] stating that they would take any means necessary to drive the Indians out of Jersey City:
I'm writing about your article during july [sic] about the abuse of Indian People. Well I'm here to state the other side. I hate them, if you had to live near them you would also. We are an organization called dot busters. We have been around for 2 years. We will go to any extreme to get Indians to move out of Jersey City. If I'm walking down the street and I see a Hindu and the setting is right, I will hit him or her. We plan some of our most extreme attacks such as breaking windows, breaking car windows, and crashing family parties. We use the phone books and look up the name Patel. Have you seen how many of them there are? Do you even live in Jersey City? Do you walk down Central avenue and experience what its [sic] like to be near them: we have and we just don't want it anymore. You said that they will have to start protecting themselves because the police cannot always be there. They will never do anything. They are a weak [sic] race physically and mentally. We are going to continue our way. We will never be stopped.[111]
Resolutions and proclamations recognizing Hinduphobia
In April 2023, Georgia became the first state in the United States to pass a resolution condemning Hinduphobia.[112][113][114] That same month, the city of Fremont, California issued a proclamation acknowledging that "Hindu Americans have been the targets of bullying, discrimination, hate speech, harassment, and bias-motivated crimes."[115]
Criticism
Some academics question the usage of the term "Hinduphobia" in the West. Brian Collins[b] found the tropes of Hinduphobia to be a popular weapon employed by the affluent Hindu diaspora in stifling critical academic discourses on Hinduism—parallels with Kansas creationists were drawn.[116] Scholars affiliated to South Asia Scholar Activist Collective (SASAC)[117][118] reject "Hinduphobia" as an ahistorical and inappropriate neologism employed by the Hindu Right in order to suppress academic inquiry into topics concerned with Hinduism, Hindutva, caste, and Indian State.[119][120] While racist and anti-Hindu prejudices have been indeed observed, in their view, Hindus have not faced any entrenched systematic oppression in India or United States.[119][120] The claimants of Hinduphobia were also accused of engaging in discrimination against Muslims, lower-castes, Dalits, Christians, and progressive Hindus.[120]
^In a discourse on the related issue of California textbook controversy, Chinnaiah Jangam (Professor of South Asian History at Carleton University) had noted that Juluri did not have any academic training in history, swore by Brahminical ideology, and even wrote a book in defense of militant Hindu nationalism.[3] Juluri rejected the charges.[4]
^Collins is the Chair Professor in Indian Religion and Philosophy at Ohio University.
^Dhulipala, Venkat (2015). Creating a New Medina: State Power, Islam, and the Quest for Pakistan in Late Colonial North India. Cambridge University Press. p. 19. ISBN9781316258385. Within the subcontinent, ML propaganda claimed that besides liberating the 'majority provinces' Muslims it would guarantee protection for Muslims who would be left behind in Hindu India. In this regard, it repeatedly stressed the hostage population theory that held that 'hostage' Hindu and Sikh minorities inside Pakistan would guarantee Hindu India's good behaviour towards its own Muslim minority.
^Jones, Owen Bennett (2002). Pakistan: Eye of the Storm. Yale University Press. p. 31. ISBN0300101473. Retrieved 9 December 2014. separate electorates for minorities in pakistan.
^Joshi, Khyati, The Racialization of Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism in the United States, Equity & Excellence in Education, Volume 39, Number 3, August 2006, pp. 211–226(16)
^Collins, Brian (2014). "Introduction". The Head Beneath the Altar: Hindu Mythology and the Critique of Sacrifice. Michigan State University Press. pp. 26–28. ISBN978-1-61186-116-7. JSTOR10.14321/j.ctt7zt5hc.4.
Benkin, Richard L. (2014). A Quiet Case of Ethnic Cleansing - The Murder of Bangladesh's Hindus (2nd ed.). New Delhi: Akshaya Prakashan (published 1 January 2014). ISBN978-8188643523.
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