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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.
Scholar Jeffery D. Long defines the term "Hinduphobia" as an irrational aversion of Hindus or Hinduism. [1] Vamsee Juluri, a Professor of Media Studies at the University of San Francisco agrees. [2] [lower-alpha 1]
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]
Akbaruddin Owaisi, a leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party in Hyderabad, has been charged several times for hate speeches denigrating Hindu gods and inciting violence against Hindus. [7] [8]
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]
The anti-Hindu decree was seen by many as being reminiscent of the Nazi law which required all Jews to wear identifying yellow badges. [13] [15] [16] The order prompted international outrage, and it was denounced by the Indian and U.S. governments, [14] as well as by Abraham Foxman of the ADL. [15] Following international pressure, the Taliban regime dropped the badge plans in June 2001. [17]
Religious persecution, discrimination and forced conversion 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] [ additional citation(s) needed ] 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. [25] [26] The violence included the looting of Hindu properties and businesses, the burning of Hindu homes, rape of Hindu women and desecration and destruction of Hindu temples. [27] According to community leaders, more than 50 Hindu temples and 1,500 Hindu homes were destroyed in 20 districts. [28] 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. [29] [30] [31]
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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. [32]
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. [33] [34] [35]
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. [36] On 21 April 2006, the Malaimel Sri Selva Kaliamman Temple in Kuala Lumpur was reduced to rubble after the city hall sent in bulldozers. [37]
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. [38]
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. [39] 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. [39] According to a lawyer for the Hindu Rights Action Task Force, a Hindu temple is demolished in Malaysia once every three weeks. [40]
Malaysian Muslims have also grown more anti-Hindu over the years. In response to the proposed construction of a temple in Selangor, Muslims chopped off the head of a cow to protest, with leaders saying there would be blood if a temple was constructed in Shah Alam. [41]
Laws in the country, especially those concerning religious identity, are generally slanted towards compulsion into converting to Islam. [42]
In Pakistan, anti-Hindu sentiments and beliefs are widely held among many sections of the population. There is a general stereotype against Hindus in Pakistan. Hindus are regarded as "miserly". [43] Also, Hindus are often regarded as kafirs (unbelievers) and blamed for "causing all the problems in Pakistan". [44] Islamic fundamentalist groups operating within Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan have broadcast or disseminated anti-Hindu propaganda among the masses, [45] referring to Hindus as "Hanood" ('Hindu' is singular and Hanood is plural form in Urdu) blaming them for "collaborating with the foreigners" against the people of the region.[ check quotation syntax ] 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. [46] [47] However, Khawaja Nazimuddin, the 2nd Prime Minister of Pakistan, stated: "I do not agree that religion is a private affair of the individual nor do I agree that in an Islamic state every citizen has identical rights, no matter what his caste, creed or faith be". [48]
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. [49]
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. [50]
The public school curriculum in Pakistan was Islamized during the 1980s. [51] The government of Pakistan claims to undertake a major revision to eliminate such teachings and to remove Islamic teaching from secular subjects. [50] 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." [52]
The bias in Pakistani textbooks was studied by Rubina Saigol, K. K. Aziz, I. A. Rahman, Mubarak Ali, A. H. Nayyar, Ahmed Saleem, Y. Rosser and others.
A study by Nayyar & Salim (2003) that was conducted with 30 experts of Pakistan's education system, found that the textbooks contain statements that seek to create hate against Hindus. There was also an emphasis on Jihad, Shahadat, wars and military heroes. The study reported that the textbooks also had a lot of gender-biased stereotypes. Some of the problems in Pakistani textbooks cited in the report were:
"Insensitivity to the existing religious diversity of the nation"; "Incitement to militancy and violence, including encouragement of 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". [53] [54] [55]
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. [56]
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' [57] 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". [58] [59] [60] [61]
An editorial in Pakistan's oldest newspaper Dawn commenting on a report in The Guardian on Pakistani Textbooks noted that "by propagating concepts such as jihad, the inferiority of non-Muslims, India's ingrained enmity with Pakistan, etc., the textbook board publications used by all government schools promote a mindset that is bigoted and obscurantist. Since there are more children studying in these schools than in madrassahs the damage done is greater." [62] [63] 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. [64] According to the historian Professor Mubarak Ali, textbook reform in Pakistan began with the introduction of Pakistan studies and Islamic studies by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1971 into the national curriculum as compulsory subject. Former military dictator Gen Zia-ul-Haq under a general drive towards Islamization, started the process of historical revisionism in earnest and exploited this initiative. "The Pakistani establishment taught their children right from the beginning that this state was built on the basis of religion – that's why they don't have tolerance for other religions and want to wipe-out all of them." [63] [65]
This article may be unbalanced towards certain viewpoints.(September 2021) |
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. [66] 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 ]
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." [67]
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 Minister Mahendra 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. [68] [69]
The Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma, and particularly Sitiveni Rabuka who led the 1987 coup in Fiji, called for the creation of a Christian State and endorsed forceful conversion of Hindus after a coup d'état in 1987.[ citation needed ] In 2012, Fiji Methodist Church's president, Tuikilakila Waqairatu, called for Fiji to officially declare Christianity as the state religion; the Hindu community leaders demanded that Fiji be a secular state where religion and state are separate. [70]
After the Leicester riots in October 2022, Hindu groups were set to boycott a review by a man they claimed was an Islamophile. [71]
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. [72]
In October 2018, it was reported that Conservative Party candidate for the Mayor of London Shaun 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". [73] 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." [74]
The Conservative Party Deputy Chairman, James Cleverly, defended Bailey and insisted that he was being misunderstood, and he implied that black boys were drifting into crime as a result of learning more about other faiths rather than learning about "their own Christian culture". [75] However, the anti-racism Hope Not Hate campaign group called Bailey's comments "grotesque". [76]
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. [77]
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. [78] [ 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. [79] [80]
In July 2019, a Hindu Priest who was dressed in his religious attire was physically beaten in Queens, New York, two blocks from Shiv Shakti Peeth Temple in Glen Oaks by Sergio Gouveia. A Senator and New York State Attorney General have called it a hate crime because "If someone is targeted because of religious robe and couple of blocks from temple where he resides it is difficult to believe this was random." Yet, the New York police have not registered it as a hate crime. [81] [82]
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." [83] His remarks were widely condemned and disputed by Indian Americans and members of many non-partisan advocacy groups. [84] Evangelical leader Albert Mohler defended Robertson's remarks, saying "any belief system, any world view, whether it's Zen Buddhism 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." [85]
In July, 2007, The United States Senate conducted its morning prayer services with a Hindu prayer, [86] 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 [87] 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. [88] [89]
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. [90] [91] Their representative attacked the proceedings as "gross idolatry". [87] 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." [92] [93] [94] 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." [95] The convocation by Zed was in fact disrupted by three protesters in the gallery reportedly shouting "this is an abomination" and other complaints. [92]
Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the protest "shows the intolerance of many religious right activists. They say they want more religion in the public square, but it's clear they mean only their religion." [87]
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 California Department of Education (CDE) initially sought to resolve the controversy by appointing Shiva Bajpai, Professor Emeritus at California State University Northridge, as a one-man committee to review revisions proposed by the groups. [96] Michael Witzel and others revisited the proposed changed on behalf of the State Board of Education and suggested reverting some of the approved changes. [97] In early 2006, the Hindu American Foundation sued the State Board over matters of process; [97] the case was settled in 2009.
The Dotbusters was a hate group in Jersey City, New Jersey, that attacked and threatened Indian-Americans in the fall of 1987. 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 [98] 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. [99]
From 2015 to 2024, in GTA municipalities such as Richmond Hill,Vaughan, Scarborough and Brampton movie theatres such as Cineplex reported windows being shot out, screens slashed and noxious substances sprayed such as pepper spray and bear spray of screenings of South-Asian films such as Malayalam films, Malaikottai Vaaliban, Kurup and Telugu film Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy. [100] [101] [102] [103] [104] [105]
In July 2023, a viral video was uploaded to TikTok featuring several burkha clad women placing urine soaked and used menstrual sanitary pads on the Shiv Linga of their Hindu neighbor. [106] They were also seen smearing feces on the door of the Hindu family. After being confronted, the family made a false report to the police claiming that they had been threatened with a gun, resulting in the police detaining the father of the Hindu family. [107]
In April 2023, Georgia became the first state in the United States to pass a resolution condemning Hinduphobia. [108] 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." [109]
Some academics question the usage of the term "Hinduphobia" in the West. Brian Collins [lower-alpha 2] 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. [110] Scholars affiliated to South Asia Scholar Activist Collective (SASAC) [111] [112] 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. [113] [114] 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. [113] [114] The claimants of Hinduphobia were also accused of engaging in discrimination against Muslims, lower-castes, Dalits, Christians, and progressive Hindus. [114]
Hindus are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent.
Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their religious beliefs or affiliations or their lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within societies to alienate or repress different subcultures is a recurrent theme in human history. Moreover, because a person's religion frequently determines his or her sense of morality, worldview, self-image, attitudes towards others, and overall personal identity to a significant extent, religious differences can be significant cultural, personal, and social factors.
Religious segregation is the separation of people according to their religion. The term has been applied to cases of religious-based segregation which occurs as a social phenomenon, as well as segregation which arises from laws, whether they are explicit or implicit.
Hindus have experienced both historical and ongoing religious persecution and systematic violence, in the form of forced conversions, documented massacres, genocides, demolition and desecration of temples, as well as the destruction of educational centres.
Hinduism is the fourth-largest religion in Malaysia. About 1.78 million Malaysian residents are Hindus, according to 2010 Census of Malaysia. This is up from 1,380,400 in 2000.
Hinduism is the second largest religious affiliation in People's Republic of Bangladesh, as according to the 2022 Census of Bangladesh, approximately 13.1 million people responded that they were Hindus, constituting 7.95% out of the total population of 165.15 million people. In terms of population, Bangladesh is the third-largest Hindu populated country of the world, just after the neighboring republics of India and Nepal in the subcontinent. Hinduism is the second-largest religion in 61 out of 64 districts of Bangladesh, but there is no Hindu majority district in Bangladesh.
Hinduism is the second largest religious affiliation in Pakistan after Islam. While Hinduism was one of the dominant faiths in the region a few centuries back, today Hindus account for only 2.14% of Pakistan's population or about 4.4 million people according to the 2017 Pakistani census. The Umerkot district has the highest percentage of Hindu residents in the country at 52.2%, while Tharparkar district has the most Hindus in absolute numbers at 714,698.
Hinduism is the fourth-largest religion in the United States, comprising 1% of the population, the same as Buddhism and Islam. The majority of American Hindus are immigrants, mainly from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, with a minority from Bhutan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other countries.
Hinduism in Afghanistan is practiced by a tiny minority of Afghans, about 30-40 individuals as of 2021, who live mostly in the cities of Kabul and Jalalabad. Afghan Hindus are ethnically Pashtun, Hindkowan (Hindki), Punjabi, or Sindhi and primarily speak Dari, Pashto, Hindko, Punjabi, Sindhi, and Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu).
Hinduism is the third largest religious group in the United Kingdom, after Christianity and Islam; the religion is followed by around 1.7% of the total population of the nation. Hindus had a presence in the United Kingdom since the early 19th century, as at the time India was part of the British Empire. Many Indians in the British Indian Army settled in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. According to 2021 United Kingdom census, 1,032,775 residents (1.7%) identified themselves as Hindus.
The situation of Human Rights in Pakistan is complex as a result of the country's diversity, large population, its status as a developing country and a sovereign Islamic democracy with a mixture of both Islamic and secular law.
Hinduism is the third-largest religion in Canada, which is followed by approximately 2.3% of the nation's total population. As of 2021, there are over 828,000 Canadians of the Hindu faith.
Anti-Indian sentiment, a form of racism against Asians, also known as Indophobia or anti-Indianism, includes negative feelings such as hatred and disgust towards India, Indians, and Indian culture. Indophobia, in the context of anti-Indian prejudice, is "a tendency to react negatively towards people of Indian extraction, against aspects of Indian culture and normative habits". Its opposite is Indomania.
Many adherents of Buddhism have experienced religious persecution because of their adherence to the Buddhist practice, including unwarranted arrests, imprisonment, beating, torture, and/or execution. The term also may be used in reference to the confiscation or destruction of property, temples, monasteries, centers of learning, meditation centers, historical sites, or the incitement of hatred towards Buddhists.
Sectarian violence in Pakistan refers to violence directed against people and places in Pakistan motivated by antagonism toward the target's religious sect. As many as 4,000 Shia are estimated to have been killed in sectarian attacks in Pakistan between 1987 and 2007, and thousands more Shia have been killed by Salafi extremists from 2008 to 2014, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Sunni Sufis and Barelvis have also suffered from some sectarian violence, with attacks on religious shrines killing hundreds of worshippers, and some Deobandi leaders assassinated. Pakistan minority religious groups, including Hindus, Ahmadis, and Christians, have "faced unprecedented insecurity and persecution" in at least two recent years, according to Human Rights Watch. One significant aspect of the attacks in Pakistan is that militants often target their victims places of worship during prayers or religious services in order to maximize fatalities and to "emphasize the religious dimensions of their attack".
The United Nations categorizes Bangladesh as a moderate democratic Muslim country. Sunni Islam is the largest and most dominant religion practiced in the country. In the Constitution of Bangladesh, Islam is referred to twice in the introduction and Part I of the constitution. The document begins with the Islamic phrase Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem which in English is translated as "In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful" and article (2A) declares that:"Islam is the state religion of the republic".
The Constitution of Bangladesh includes secularism as one of the four fundamental principles, despite having Islam as the state religion by 2A. Islam is referred to twice in the introduction and Part I of the constitution and the document begins with the Islamic phrase Basmala which in English is translated as “In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful” and article (2A) declares that :"Islam is the state religion of the republic". Bangladesh is mostly governed by secular laws, set up during the times when the region was ruled by the British Crown.
The Pakistani textbooks controversy refers to claimed inaccuracies and historical denialism. The inaccuracies and myths promote religious intolerance and Indophobia and lead to calls for curriculum reform. According to the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Pakistan's school textbooks have systematically inculcated anti-Indian discrimination through historical omissions and deliberate misinformation since the 1970s.
Religious discrimination in Pakistan is a serious issue for the human rights situation in modern-day Pakistan. Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Shias, and Ahmadis among other religious minorities often face discrimination and at times are even subjected to violence. In some cases Christian churches and the worshippers themselves have been attacked. Khawaja Nazimuddin, the 2nd Prime Minister of Pakistan, stated: "I do not agree that religion is a private affair of the individual nor do I agree that in an Islamic state every citizen has identical rights, no matter what his caste, creed or faith be".
Hinduism is the largest religion in South Asia with about 1.2 billion Hindus, forming just under two-thirds of South Asia's population. South Asia has the largest population of Hindus in the world, with about 99% of all global Hindus being from South Asia. Hinduism is the dominant religion in India and Nepal and is the second-largest religion in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan.
The logic of the hostage theory tied the treatment of Muslim minorities in India to the treatment meted out to Hindus in Pakistan.
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.
Nazim-ud-Din favored an Islamic state not just out of political expediency but also because of his deep religious belief in its efficacy and practicality...Nazim-ud-Din commented:'I do not agree that religion is a private affair of the individual nor do I agree that in an Islamic state every citizen has identical rights, no matter what his caste, creed or faith be'.
separate electorates for minorities in pakistan.