NGO Introduces Hinduphobia Tracker: What It Is, How It Works, and How to Report Hate Crimes Against Hindus
- MGMMTeam
- Dec 6, 2024
- 3 min read
A Hinduphobia Tracker has been launched to document incidents of hate crimes against Hindus in India and abroad. This initiative, introduced by the Gavishti Foundation—an NGO led by Nupur J Sharma and Rahul Roushan, the editor-in-chief and CEO of OpIndia respectively—aims to address anti-Hindu sentiment.
The stated objectives of the Hinduphobia Tracker include documenting hate crimes targeting Hindus based on religious motivations, raising awareness about Hindu persecution, publishing research papers, and advocating for Hindu human rights. The project is dedicated to transparently and accurately recording such incidents to highlight ongoing persecution, promote awareness, and combat prejudice against the Hindu community.
NGO launches Hinduphobia Tracker: Here’s what it is, how it works and how you can submit hate crimes against Hindus | OpIndia
The tracker features a comprehensive database of hate crimes motivated by religious animosity, with detailed explanations for each case outlining why it qualifies as a hate crime. These incidents are categorized into eight primary groups for systematic analysis.
Gender-based hate crimes and sexual violence in relationships
Non-fatal assaults
Vandalism or attacks on Hindu religious symbols
Restrictions or bans on Hindu customs and practices
Hate speech targeting Hindus
Coercive or exploitative proselytization
Attacks on Hindu men due to associations with non-Hindu women
Fatal assaults or attacks leading to death
All categories in the database have been carefully defined based on international conventions, standards, and criteria for assessing whether a case qualifies as a religiously motivated hate crime.
The term Hinduphobia has evolved over time to represent a broad spectrum of negative sentiments, attitudes, and actions directed at Hindus due to their religious identity. This has contributed to an increase in religiously motivated hate crimes against Hindus. The Hinduphobia Tracker has introduced a working definition of the term Hinduphobia to provide clarity.
As of its release, the Hinduphobia Tracker database has documented 1,314 religiously motivated hate crimes against Hindus since January 1, 2023. The database also includes 191 “undecided cases,” where hate crime motives are suspected but unverified, and 589 cases marked as pending review. While not exhaustive, the database aims to provide a comprehensive record of such crimes, offering a realistic reflection of the situation on the ground.
The database is publicly accessible, allowing users to raise disputes or submit new hate crime reports for analysis and inclusion. Here’s how the platform works:
Key Features of the Hinduphobia Tracker:
Hate Crime Map: The homepage includes an interactive map displaying crimes based on their geographic location, marked using specific symbols for different crime categories. Clicking on a symbol reveals a summary of the incident on the left panel, with a link to detailed case information. While the map is centred on India, users can zoom out and pan to view cases from other countries.
Homepage Insights: Below the map, users can view basic statistics and visual data representations, including charts. Links to articles related to the tracker and the hate crime database are also provided for further reading.
Hate Crime Database: Accessible via the "Hate Crime Database" tab on the navigation bar, this section displays live statistics and a searchable table of recorded crimes. Users can filter cases by category, date, or keywords. Each row in the table links to a detailed case summary in a new tab, where explanations and evidence for the classification as a hate crime are provided.
Submitting Information or Raising Disputes: Each case has a unique Case ID, displayed at the top of its page. Users can click the “Submit Additional Information/Raise a Dispute” button to provide updates, upload supporting documents, or contest a case classification.
Undecided Cases: A separate section for undecided cases, accessible from the navigation bar, works similarly to the main database. These cases lack sufficient evidence to classify them definitively as hate crimes but remain under review.
Reporting Hate Crimes: Users can report new incidents using the “Report Hate Crime” tab. This opens a form for submitting case details, selecting relevant categories, and uploading supporting documents such as images, videos, or PDF files. Names and email addresses are required for submissions. The Hinduphobia Tracker team reviews each submission to determine if it meets the criteria for inclusion.
Currently, the database focuses on cases from January 2023 onwards, with plans to expand its coverage in the future.
This platform is a work in progress, striving to provide an accurate and transparent resource for understanding the extent and nature of anti-Hindu hate crimes.
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