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The Persecution of Hindus has existed throughout history.Hinduism, being a non-doctrinal religion, is ideologically different from Abrahamic monotheistic faiths, which are doctrinal. These and other theological differences have led followers of various Abrahamic faiths to perpetrate some of the worst atrocities against Hindus in recorded history.

Hindus have been persecuted, for the most part, by Muslims and Christians. Muslim persecution of Hindus is typically conducted by massive ethnic cleansings, forced conversion, raping, genocides, slavery, the desecration and demolition of Hindu temples and ashrams and mass-rapes of Hindu women and sexual abuse of Hindu children. Christian persecution of Hindus would begin with defamation through prosetylization, and carry through to forced conversions, inquisitions, burnings, lootings and related activities. Persecution also extend to the confiscation or destruction of private Hindu property, or incitement to hate Hindus though propaganda.

Hindus have been historically persecuted in the Indian Subcontinent. In modern times, the Hindu disapora in other countries have sufferred persecution as well. Hindu minorities in Bangladesh and Pakistan have also sufferred persecution. In recent years, Hindus have been persecuted by miscellaneous groups in Uganda and Fiji as well.

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 discouraged conversions, officers of the Company routinely converted Sepoys to Christianity, often by force. This was one of the factors that led to the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

In the Northeast of India, Christian terrorists funded by Baptist churches have conducted systematic genocide of Hindus in Nagaland.

The initial invasion of the Indian Subcontinent by Muslim armies led to widespread carnage as Muslims regarded the Hindus as infidels.Historian Will Durant quotes in his book "The Story of Civilization: Our Oriental Heritage" (page 459):

"...the Islamic conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization is a precious good, whose delicate complex order and freedom can at any moment be overthrown by barbarians invading from without and multiplying from within. Almost all the Muslims of South Asia are descendants of weaker elements of the population who had succumbed to forcible Islamic conversion."

"The Mohammedan conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history". The Islamic historians and scholars have recorded with great glee and pride of 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. Estimates have stated that over 13 centuries and over the entire subcontinent, the number of Hindus that died at the hands of the Muslims goes up into the millions. There have been several occasions when the Bahmani sultans in central India (1347-1528) killed around 80,000-100,000 Hindus over a short period of time, which they set as a minimum goal, to their Hindu-hunting exploits. [1].

The contemporary French writer François Gautier has said [2],

"The massacres perpetuated by Muslims in India are unparalleled in history, bigger than the Holocaust of the Jews by the Nazis; or the massacre of the Armenians by the Turks; more extensive even than the slaughter of the South American native populations by the invading Spanish and Portuguese."

Prof. K.S.Lal calculated in his book "The Growth of Muslim Population in India" that between the years 1000 AD and 1500 AD the population of Hindu's decreased by 80 Million.

Muslim invaders began infiltrating India in the 8th century.Hajjaj, the governor of what is now Iraq, gave the order for invasion. Muhammad bin-Qasim began the first raids in 712 CE. Records from the invasion point to temple demolitions, shattered sculptures, and vast killings of Indians. Several inhabitants of the city of Debai were carried off to slavery. After the initial conquest, bin-Qasin tried to establish law and order in the conquered lands, and even allowed some religious tolerance. However, his superior Hajjaj objected: ^[1]

"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 men^[2].

The first Islamic Empire of India, the Sultanate of Delhi, was established in 1210 CE by Turkic tribes that invaded the subcontinent from Afghanistan.Many temples were looted and destroyed. Infamous cases are the destruction of the Somnath Temple by Mahmud of Ghazni, and the Ramjanmabhoomi/Babri Mosque.The genocide of Hindus by the hand of Ghazni at Thaneshwar and Mathura were particularly severe, according to the records of his own secretary Arikh-i-Yamini,

"The blood of the infidels flowed so copiously at Thanesar that the stream was discolored, not withstanding its purity, and people were unable to drink it. The Sultan returned with plunder which is impossible to count. Praise be to Allah for the honor he bestows on Islam and Muslims."

Muhammad Ghori conducted genocide of Hindus at Koi (modern Aligarh), Kalinjar and Varanasi, according to Hasan Nizami's Taj-ul-Maasir, 20,000 Hindu prisoners were slaughtered and their heads offerred to crows

The RamJanmabhoomi-Babri Mosque is another instance, which was the birth place of Lord Rama, according to Hindu scripture. The temple was destroyed by Central Asian muslim invader Zahir-ud-din Mohammad Babur and a mosque was built over it's ruins. The Hindu Right wing in India is presently fighting to get it back as a temple.The Mughal Empire was marked by periods of tolerance of non-Muslims, such as Hindus, Christians and Sikhs, as well as violent oppression and persecution of those people. Large scale conversions were carried out at the tip of the sword in most places where Muslim emperors ruled.

The reign of Aurangzeb was particularly brutal. No aspect of Aurangzeb's reign is more cited - or more controversial - than the numerous desecrations and destruction of Hindu temples. During his reign, tens of thousands of temples were desecrated: facades and interiors were defaced and their murtis (divine images) looted. 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 most sacred to Hindus, in Varanasi and Mathura. In both cases, he had large mosques built on the sites. The Kesava Deo temple in Mathura, marked the place Hindus believe was the birth place of Shri Krishna. 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, Vishwanath Temple. The temple had changed 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 continue.

Sir Jadunath Sarkar (1870-1958) the pre-eminent historian of Mughal India, wrote the following in 1920 regarding the impact of centuries of jihad and dhimmitude on the indigenous Hindus of the Indian subcontinent:

”Islamic theology, therefore tells the true believer that his highest duty is to make 'exertion (jihad) in the path of God', by waging war against infidel lands (dar-ul-harb) till they become part of the realm of Islam (dar-ul-Islam) and their populations are converted into true believers. After conquest the entire infidel population becomes theoretically reduced to the status of slaves of the conquering army. The men taken with arms are to be slain or sold into slavery and their wives and children reduced to servitude. As for the non-combatants among the vanquished, if they are not massacred outright, - as the canon lawyer Shaf'i declares to be the Qur'anic injunction,- it is only to give them a respite till they are so wisely guided as to accept the true faith.”

(source: How the Muslims forcibly converted the Hindus of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh to Islam by Jadunath Sarkar).

The Hindu minority in Kashmir have also been historically persecuted by Muslim rulers"^[3]. While Hindus and muslims lived in harmony for certain periods of time, several Muslim rulers of Kashmir were intolerant to 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 records that Sikandar persecuted the Hindus and issued orders proscribing the residence 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’.""^[4] [edit]

In recent years, large parts of Northeastern India have become Christianized owing to the fervent activities of misisonaries. 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 NLFT has targeted Swamis and temples for attacks.

The Baptist Church of Tripura has supplied NLFT with arms and financial support [3] 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.

The atrocities perpetrated by Christians in Tripura against Hindus are chronicled here.

Hinduism in Russia is subject to discrimination. For example, significant obstacles have been placed to the construcition of a Hindu temple in Moscow. It was reported that some influential official of Russian Orthodox Church propagated misinformation and defamation, e.g., describing Krishna as an "evil demon" [4].

There have been severe persecution of Hindus by muslims in Pakistan since it's formation in 1947. The increasing Islamization has caused many Hindus to leave Hinduism and seek emancipation by converting to other faiths such as Buddhism and Christianity. Such Islamization include the blasphemy laws, which make it dangerous for religious minorities to express themselves freely and engage freely in religious and cultural activities [5][6].

Minority members of the Pakistan National Assembly have alleged that Hindus were being hounded and humiliated to force them to leave Pakistan [7]. Hindu women have been known to be victims of kidnapping and forced conversion to Islam [8].

Indian authorities have alleged that Pakistan has been covertly and financing Islamic Terrorism in Kashmir. Islamic terrorists have routinely engaged in attacks on Hindu pilgrims in both Kashmir and neighboring Jammu[9]. Kashmiri militants have consistently persecuted Hindus in the region, as well as moderate muslims suspected of siding with the India [10]. The well-known Kashmiri Pandit ethnic group of Hindus, who have been denizens of the region for centuries, have been ethnically cleansed from Kashmir by Islamic militants[11][12]. [13].

A report released by the Hindu American Foundation on the status of human right of Hindus in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Kashmir covers great detail and with much documentation the condition of millions of Hindus who live as minorities amongst a Muslim population, which received insufficient attention before[14].

The 71-page report compiles media coverage and first-hand accounts of human rights violations perpetrated against Hindus because of their religious identity. The incidents are documented, often quoting from well-known international human rights organizations.

The Hindu American Foundation, a non-partisan American group, presented the report to the co-chairs of the US Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican, and Gary Ackerman, a Democrat. Both of these members of Congress endorsed it.

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

Bangladesh has had a troublesome history of persecution of Hindus as well. A US-based human rights organisation, Refugees Internationsl, has claimed that religious minorities, especially Hindus, still face discrimination in Bangladesh[15]. The government of Bangladesh, a nationalist party openly calls for ‘Talibanisation’ of the state. It would seem that the first step to achieving this target is by ridding the nation of its indigenous Hindu minority. 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 7% [16]. The ‘Vested Property Act’ previously named the ‘Enemy Property Act’ has seen upto 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 [17](article mirrorred from the US library of congress). The United States congressional caucus on India has condemned these atrocities [18]. The estimated loss of 20 million Bangladeshi Hindus is because of an ongoing genocide^{[citation needed]} and forced exodus. An aside to that statistic is that much of the purge has occurred well after the liberation of that country thanks to Indian blood and treasure.

Hindus in what is now Pakistan have declined from 23 % of the total population in 1947 to less than 2 % today. The report rightly condemns Pakistan for systematic state-sponsored religious discrimination against Hindus through bigoted "anti-blasphemy" laws. It documents numerous reports of millions of Hindus being held as "bonded laborers" in slavery-like conditions in rural Pakistan, something repeatedly ignored by the Pakistani government. Pakistan aggressively portrays its struggle against India as a Hindu-Muslim conflict, making it clear that its own Hindu minority is fair game for persecution.

Even within India, the pattern is the same. The combination of violence and local anti-Hindu sentiment has led to a similar "religious cleansing" of the Kashmir valley, where almost all the Hindus have fled.

Much like the Bangladeshi Hindu refugees in India, the Kashmiri Hindus are an unpalatable subject for many Indians, an ideological embarrassment for some people who feel uneasy about discussing the persecution of Hindus by Muslims. Some Indians still prefer to blame the Indian government for the flight of Kashmiri Hindus, ignoring the campaign launched by various Muslim groups to use public threats and violence, including murder, to terrify the local Hindus into leaving.

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

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

• Dr. Koenraad Elst Was There an Islamic "Genocide" of Hindus?
• Human Rights Commission for Bangladeshi Minoritites
• Hindu Human Rights
• Hindu Holocaust Memorial
• A Tribute to Hinduism
• The Magnitude of Muslim Atrocities in India
• Video Documentary showing the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits