South Asia’s Religious Persecution

For many years, religious racism has existed throughout South Asia. Bangladesh is a prime example of this. This is due to Islam and Hinduism’s shared history. The damage done by each community’s actions will never be reversed. Others may find this issue difficult to grasp because it is a third-world country with few resources. All of the devastations cause division and tension in the country, causing it to trail behind due to an internal dispute. The same tyranny is experienced by Hindus in Bangladesh and Muslims in India, yet nothing is said or done to remedy it. While this struggle has mostly gone unnoticed, it is critical to understand how much religious racism is affecting countries and setting them back. Individuals from different religions feel their religion is superior to others, and this ageless racism is prevalent in South Asia, resulting in a variety of racist deeds.

In the article, “Laws and Religion in Bangladesh” (2017) by Jahid Hossain Bhuiyan Dr. Md (Author and Researcher of Law), his nationality as Bengali, asserts the claim of Hindu oppression in Bangladesh in the past under Pakistan rule and suggests that the “enacted Vested Property Act 1965” was to be crucially criticized. The Vested Property Act of 1965 is a law enforced by East Pakistan in which it regards enemy property to be all in the grasp of Pakistan and follows its defense rules. We notice information on this Act and Hindus scattering from Bangladesh and attempting to immigrate to India as a result of it. This inequality is more than enough reason for the author to demonstrate the effects of Islam in Bangladesh. The relationship or history of the issue with religion in Bangladesh highlights the relevance of oppression in Bangladesh at the time. This is necessary for society to change through this conflict. Change necessitates a great deal of faith in the fact that we can find a middle ground between two opposing sides. Jahid wishes for this so that there might be unity between both communities in the present and past, despite the inevitable bigotry that exists. One of the most essential components of people’s lives and cultures is religion. It has existed for millennia, although with various religions or practices for different gods. With this in play, you can understand how there might be a rift between individuals and cultures. Hinduism and Islam are two historical religions with diverse cultures. However, these two communities loathe each other because of their perceptions of which god is greater and race. This is when religious racism comes into play. This problem is especially prevalent in Bangladesh, where Hindu secularism is prevalent. The article, “Laws and Religion in Bangladesh” published at the BYU Law Digital Commons in 2017 by Jahid Hossain Bhuiyan Dr. Md, writes about the secularism and biases of Islam in Bangladesh. He says that there is a “commitment to Islam” (859) and the Constitution of Bangladesh follows this establishment. The establishment is set in stone from the Pakistani time of rule in Bangladesh. Pakistan is a country that is nationally confirmed as an Islamic state. That means, Pakistan treated the Hindus like they were its real enemies and destroyed and killed them. Because of this, the article again writes on how Hindus immigrated to India during the span of this issue with the Pakistanis (860). This was due to the Hindus feeling persecuted and having no choice but for them to get the best outcome was to migrate to India (a country of Hinduism origins) to feel secure and safe again. The article further elaborates differently through a political perspective in Pakistan “enacted the Vested Property Act of 1965” (860), which disperses that Hindu families were to be given their land to the government under force. This follows the ideals of extreme power as the government at the time was a Muslim man. Because of that reason, Hindus had dissatisfaction and felt oppressed more than rice sacks on their shoulder.

In the article Wikipedia, “Persecution of Hindus”, the argument that is pointed out is of Hindus being looked down on by the Muslim majority in Bangladesh, in which they address this through a recent event that occurred back in October 2021 where “several Hindu temples were desecrated by miscreants”. This provides information regarding the October 2021 destruction of Hindu temples and Hindu “goddesses.” The writer bases their thesis on Hindus having to deal with such violence in secularism, particularly when their deities are involved, which some may consider wicked. The Dhaka Tribune article “Hindu idols desecrated in Madaripur” intends to express the relevance of this topic since secularism is still a persistent struggle in Bangladesh and wishes to change society for the better. Some suggestions for improvement include demonstrating respect by using quotes from religious books to demonstrate how the god/gods they worship would not approve of all of their activities. This is addressed with sympathy from the author because Hindus have been tarnished and rambled by the destruction of their cherished deities, leaving them with nothing to repel with. Racism causes violence, ethnic division, and injustice, and perpetuates history because it does not change through time, necessitating a change. Temples are sacred places in Hinduism, analogous to Mosques in Islam and churches in Christianity. How would it make you feel if your most sacred location was ravished and shattered? “Several Hindu temples were desecrated by miscreants” reported in the Wikipedia article, “Persecution of Hindus”, published by Dhaka Tribune (2021). Temples are being torn away from the Hindus like they were never there. This shows the amount of hatred of one ethnicity toward another in the same homeland. The division of religion in the Bangladesh community is very clear to any people that see the situation of the country. Furthermore, the article adds more examples of recent events that had to deal with the destruction and vandalization of Hindu religious figures in the shrines/temples. In April of 2019, in Kazipara of Mirpur Dhaka, “two idols of Hindu goddesses, Lakshmi and Saraswati, were vandalized by unidentified miscreants at a newly constructed temple…” (Wikipedia). These events were very misfortunate and caused uproars in the nation. Secularism is very apparent in Bangladesh. But not only that, but back in the 1950s, a conflict exists between the two parties. We have the politics of Communalism in effect around India and Bangladesh under Pakistan’s rule. The extension of this is evident in the article by Beth Roy (Author), “Some Trouble With Cows: Making Sense of Social Conflict” (1994) which talks about the ideology of Communalism in India and the State of Bangladesh. It relates back to the problem where racism continues and through a different perspective of another era/time. It is clear that Hindus feel the oppression of Muslims in their country which still exists today.

Md Meharban (Photojournalist) expresses an opposing viewpoint to the claim that Muslims face the same discrimination in India in his essay “Shoot the Traitors.” He confronts this by discussing the government’s political actions toward the Muslim minority. The point is made that racism and religion require reform by enlightening the reader about discrimination in India and governmental biases. In February 2020, a video of injured Indian males who had been mistreated by police officers who were all Hindu and made them perform the national anthem angered Muslims who had seen it. Muslims are near Northern India where they are in the Muslim state of Kashmir which is infamously known for religious discrimination. Meharban writes, “At least 52 people were killed in the three days of communal violence…” and “…the majority of victims were Muslim” (1). We can see how much Hindus discriminate against Muslim rioters in Kashmir in this video. On behalf of the Indian government, they thrashed them mercilessly. This indicates the severity of the situation in India in terms of religious persecution of Muslims. It’s heartbreaking to see what people have to go through; this is a history of the conflict between these two religions. Meharban backs up his assertion by addressing what the Modi administration does: “BJP leaders have repeatedly made Hindu nationalist and anti-Muslim remarks in their speeches and interviews” (2). Meharban points out how the Indian government mocks Muslims by them making subliminal disses in their sayings. This argument extends to protests by Muslims on the struggles of Muslims in New Delhi. In addition to this, the Muslim’s major ideal, Prophet Muhammed, was insulted. Sheikh Saaliq in the article, “Muslim nations slam India over insulting remarks about Islam” writes, “…Hindu nationalist party made derogatory references to Islam and the Prophet Muhammed” (Paragraph 1). Based on this we see how the Indian government further makes insulting comments about Muslim culture and their prophet. Furthermore, Saaliq says that there are “accusations of blasphemy” occurring from the Hindu nationalist party. In response to this, Arab nations are cutting ties with the Indian government. The problem here is that the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi has “regular silence on such attacks”. This relates to the issue of there being religious discrimination and that both authors are wanting a change for the society of India. This is due to their Hindu biases government officials criticizing the Muslim minority in all of these attacks and nothing is being done to change it with there just being protests. These protests are not enough. Arab people have responded to this insanity where they don’t want their nations to be associated with the Indian government and its discriminatory people of Hindus.

The political cartoon by Manoj Kureel (Artist Bio) stresses the subject of Hindu persecution in both Bangladesh and West Bengal. These two localities are dominated by Muslims. Kureel tackles the problem of intolerance by showing a newspaper article about “Hindu females raped” in West Bengal, with a Muslim man pursuing them. Kureel’s political cartoon gives important facts about Hindu enslavement. This makes us understand the different obstacles that come with religious intolerance in Bangladesh, it draws parallels between the two regions’ troublesome issues. Furthermore, we observe how patient Hindus are with religious tyranny, whereas Muslims make a big deal out of it. This is what David Frawley (Doctor, an American author, astrologer, educator (acharya), and a Dharma supporter) tweeted about the persistent problem of disparaging marks on Hindus, only to be met with modesty and tolerance. According to David Frawley, there has been a backlash in Pakistan against criticism of Islam, but not in India. However, when it comes to Hinduism, anyone can criticize it without fear of repercussions. Frawley argues all of this to discuss how Hindus are perceived to be “intolerant,” despite having to deal with a lot of nonsense from other religions. It does not have to be Islam in general because criticism of other religions is common everywhere. People would always point out the flaws of another religion. Hinduism always gets pointed out that and then Muslim people get aggravated way worse and react strongly to the message. We have the aspect of Hindu oppression in West Bengal and Bangladesh and then we see it through another form in which we talk about tolerance in another country.

We all know to a certain extent how religious racism has been constant throughout the years. It is happening to both parties, although the majority occurs with Hindus being oppressed by the Muslim National countries. In the end, a change is necessary as all the authors are wanting to induce to make a more peaceful world in religion and humanity overall. Personally, this issue resides with me because I am a Hindu who is part of the community. However, within my own community, Muslims have been degraded from a vulgar tongue. Finding a solution to this common problem will be difficult but we can always consider a start somewhere. My question to the audience is to consider how you would feel if your religion was repeatedly discriminated against by an opposing community.

Cited Sources

1. “‘Shoot the Traitors.’” Human Rights Watch, 16 June 2020, www.hrw.org/report/2020/04/09/shoot-traitors/discrimination-against-muslims-under-indias-new-citizenship-policy.
   
2. Roy, Beth. “Some Trouble with Cows.” Google Books, Google, 1994, https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=u-uwBwnNaPwC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=some%2Btrouble%2Bwith%2Bcow%2B&ots=-cVwZxsePX&sig=C2cia333tsKfmbl4s_44yxzU56g#v=onepage&q&f=false.
   
3. “Persecution of Hindus.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Oct. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Hindus.
   
4. Bhuiyan, Jahid Hossain. “Law and Religion in Bangladesh.” Brigham Young University Law Review, vol. 2017, no. 4, 2017, pp. 839–68.
   
5. Saaliq, Sheikh. Muslim Nations Slam India over Insulting Remarks about Islam – AP News. AP News, 26 June 2022, https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-middle-east-india-new-delhi-pakistan-364cd94bd3b9895be5a4857f68262a9d.
   
6. “트위터에서 즐기는 Truth by IBTL.” Twitter, 11 July 2013, twitter.com/ibtlx/status/355219106628239362?lang=ko.
   
7. Wikipedia contributors. “2021 Bangladesh Communal Violence.” Wikipedia, 7 Nov. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Bangladesh_communal_violence.
   
8. “Dr David Frawley On.” Twitter, 13 Jan. 2020, twitter.com/davidfrawleyved/status/1216744372278046721?lang=en.