The nearly one billion Hindus
constitute the third largest religious group in the world. The Hindu Diaspora has grown beyond the
Indian sub-continent to compromise an important minority in numerous countries
around the world. Unfortunately, Hindus continue to face a litany of human
rights abuses in many of these countries.
While Hindus have inhabited present day Afghanistan for thousands of years,
they number significantly less than 1% of the population today. Many left
the country during the years of Taliban rule and those that continue to live
there, face dire conditions. Hindu shops, temples, and schools have been
usurped or demolished and the government has refused to allocate land to Hindus
in order to rebuild their lives. A lack of government funding and educated
teachers has led to a desperate need of schools. The small expatriate Afghan
Hindu community is being pressured to return to Afghanistan despite a lack of
facilities and turbulent conditions that make the country unsafe for their
arrival.
Among the countries detailed in the report, Bangladesh poses the direst threat for its Hindu minority. With Islamic fundamentalism on the rise in Bangladesh’s political arena, the rights of minorities erode at a rapid pace. Bangladesh persists on enforcing the Enemy Property Act (EPA) and Vested Property Act (VPA), which identify Hindus as “enemies” of the state and confiscates their property. The murder, kidnapping and rape of Hindu and tribal women, forcible conversions of Hindu girls to Islam, attacks on Hindu temples, and confiscation of Hindu property continued in 2005 as it did the previous year. There were a total of 480 documented incidents of human rights abuse against Hindus between December 2004 and November 2005. An exact number of human rights violations is difficult to obtain as many abuses are unreported to authorities out of fear or hopelessness.
Although approximately 38% of the population in Fiji is Hindu, the Hindu community still faces intolerance in the forms of anti-Hindu speeches and temple destruction. Between 2001 and April 2005, 100 cases of temple attacks have been registered with the police. Official reports suggest that attacks on Hindu institutions increased by 14% from 2004. The Methodist Church of Fiji propagates hatred against Hindus by repeatedly calling for the creation of a theocratic Christian State and objecting to the constitutional protection of minorities. Meanwhile, the current government continues to favor Christians over Hindus and Muslims by granting preferential treatment to members of the Christian community, such as the evangelist Benny Hinn.
The Hindu population in Pakistan has seen a dramatic and worrisome decline since the country’s partition with India. Since Pakistan has proclaimed itself to be an Islamic Republic, the rights of minorities such as Hindus, Christians, and Ahmadiyyas have been abused through threats, kidnappings, murders, and rapes. Hindu temples are looted and desecrated, and Hindu property is usurped without any reprisal for the perpetrators. Violence against women is rampant in the forms of rape, honor killings, and domestic abuse. In Pakistan, a woman is raped every two hours on average and at least ten women per day die in honor killings. Women are also subjugated the Hudood Ordinances, which require a female rape victim to present four male witnesses to the crime or risk being whipped for adultery. More recently, Hindu girls, as young as 12 and 13, have been kidnapped, forcibly converted Islam, and forced to marry Muslim boys. Discrimination against Hindus is propagated to Pakistan’s youth through government-sponsored textbooks that depict Hindus as cruel and the enemy of Islam.
Pakistan-sponsored Islamic militants have driven 300,000 Hindus out of the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir. These same militants have threatened to kill any Hindu that dares to return to the Kashmir Valley. Currently, these Kashmiri Hindus are living like refugees in their own country in deplorable conditions. As there are no longer many Hindus left in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir, documenting human rights abuses is near impossible.
Inconsistent with their governments’ actions, all five of the countries detailed in this report claim to indiscriminately support human rights and provide freedom of religion through their Constitutions. Moreover, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and India have all acceded to the United Nation’s Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), which provides for freedom of thought and religion to all individuals within the county. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination was agreed to by Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Fiji, and ratified by Pakistan and India. Despite the text of their Constitutions and their signatures on UN Covenants, these countries continue to violate the human rights of minorities, particularly Hindus.