The persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh, Pakistan: No country to live, only a place to die

The number of incidents concerning the persecution of Hindus has been high in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Temples have been destroyed, women raped, tortured, men converted and killed.

New Delhi, Nov 19: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday raised the issue of attacks on Hindus and temples in Bangladesh. He raised the issue with his Bangladesh counterpart Asaduzzaman Khan on the sidelines of the 'No Money for Terror' Ministerial that is being held in Delhi.

The concerns were raised at a time when a very disturbing incident of a Hindu girl being beheaded in Bangladesh was reported. Kavita Rani was killed and beheaded by one Abu Bakr.

The number of incidents concerning the persecution of Hindus has been high in countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Hindus have been living like second rate citizens in these countries. Temples have been destroyed, women raped, men converted and killed.

It was in this context that the Narendra Modi government introduced the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) so that these persecuted minorities in the Islamic nations can have a home in India which they can call their own.

The Bangladesh scenario:

In Bangladesh, the Hindus continue to face discrimination and are vulnerable due to rising extremism and violence. The very famous Sonargaon Temple in the Narayanganj district was destroyed by radical Islamists on 6 February 2010.

A 2017 report had said during that year 107 Hindus were killed while 31 were victims of enforced disappearance. Further 782 Hindus had been forced to leave the country. 25 Hindu women were raped while 235 temples have been vandalised. In all, there were at least 6,437 atrocities that had been committed against the Hindus.

It is worse in Pakistan:

In 2013, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan had said that 1,000 Hindu families of India had fled to India. In the year 2014, Ramesh Kumar, a member of the PML-N said that 5,000 Hindus are migrating to India every year. This is owing to the fear of being persecuted. The Hindu women are targeted the most and every month at least 25 of them are being converted to Islam, raped and then married off.

In the year 2010, 60 members of the Hindu community in Karachi were attacked and evicted from their homes. The reason was that a Hindu was drinking water from a tap near a mosque.

According to a 2010 report of the Pakistan Human Rights Council, every month 25 Hindu girls are raped and converted. Many Hindus have voluntarily converted to Islam to get the National Identification Card. The Madrasa Baitul Islam pays the debts of Hindus on the condition that they convert to Islam. On the other hand, data shows that the Dean Mohammad Shaikh Mission has converted 108,000 to Islam.

97 vs 3:

The fanatics are having a field day persecuting the minority community in Pakistan, thanks to the blasphemy laws. The law says that it is an offence to insult Prophet Mohammad, the Quran and religious personalities.

Experts OneIndia spoke with say that it was this law passed under former former president Zia-ul-Haq led to the complete Islamisation of the Pakistan police. The law was in fact passed to protect the Muslims against the minorities. The Muslims constitute 97 per cent of the population while the minorities 3 per cent.

Pakistani-American human rights activist Fatima Gul had told a Congressional hearing on human rights in South Asia that Pakistan is the most dangerous country for women and religious persecution remains one of the most salient features.