Dont Hindus Have Human Rights?

Below, some excerpts from another attention-grabbing article that I came across recently. It is written by Vijay Dandapani and is titled, “Wanted: Some Hindu Spine” (Aug 12, ’05). It is in the context of a recent survey of Hindu Human Rights (first-ever) by the Hindu American Foundation.

“Human rights are by definition universal. Hence, in an ideal world there would be no need to write a separate report on the human rights of Hindus, or for that matter any other group. In the real world, unfortunately, there is a gaping hole when it comes to the awareness of human rights for Hindus, mainly in Bangladesh, Pakistan and even in the Kashmir valley.
A report recently released by the Hindu American Foundation, on the status of human right of Hindus in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Kashmir begins to fill that hole, spelling out in great detail and with much documentation the pathetic condition of millions of Hindus who live as minorities amongst a Muslim population.

Amongst other things, “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.

But that is only the latest chapter of a much longer pattern of persecution. Hindus comprised 30 per cent of Bangladesh’s population in 1947 but are less than 10 per cent today. The estimated loss of 20 million Bangladeshi Hindus is because of an ongoing genocide and forced exodus.”

The irony is of course that were it not for Indian blood and the lives of our soldiers, Bangladesh today probably would not have existed.

In the case of Pakistan, Hindus have declined from 23 per cent of the total population in 1947 to less than 2 per cent today. The report mentions the systematic and state-sponsored religious discrimination against Hindus by using “anti-blasphemy” laws and the condition of millions of forgotten Hindu who survive as bonded labourers (practically slaves) in the rural parts of Pakistan.

The report also mentions the plight of Kashmiri Hindus who have suffered ethnic violence and “religious cleansing” at an unprecedented level since the last two decades.

Sh. Dandapani accurately summarises the attitude of many Indians for whom “the Kashmiri Hindus are an unpalatable subject -(and) an ideological embarrassment” and who “still prefer to blame the Indian government for the flight of Kashmiri Hindus, deliberately ignoring the campaign launched by various Muslim groups to use public threats and violence, including murder, to terrify the local Hindus into leaving.”

“How ironic, and revealing about modern Indian culture, that so many Indians, most of whom are Hindus, are reluctant to acknowledge the problem, let alone do something about it. The sad reality of this world is that if Indians do not care about the persecution of Hindus nobody else will.”
“Indians, meaning all Indians and not just Hindus, have to speak out by themselves. It is in everybody’s interest to build an India that provides equal treatment and respect to all its citizens, regardless of religion. The same principle should be demanded of Bangladesh and Pakistan. It is not just Hindus but also Muslims, Sikhs and others in India who, if they believe in equality, should insist in public that India’s neighbors show respect for the human rights of minorities.”

The report by the Foundation is an excellent and very credible effort. It has all the data and the facts and is robustly independent of any political affiliation. If we do nothing and continue to turn a blind eye or deliberately ignore what is happening around us, there will come a time (and not too far in the future) when there may be no Hindus left in Bangladesh and Pakistan. That would be a terrible and dreadful shame.