Anti-Hindu sentiment

Iconoclasm during the Muslim conquests on the Indian subcontinent

The Somnath temple was first attacked by Muslim Turkic invader Mahmud of Ghazni and repeatedly demolished by successive Muslim invaders, each time being rebuilt by Hindu rulers.

Ruins of the Martand Sun Temple. The temple was completely destroyed on the orders of Muslim Sultan Sikandar Butshikan in the early 15th century, with demolition lasting a year.

Under the reign of Muhammad bin Tughlaq, the Muslim cleric Ziauddin Barrani wrote several works, such as the Fatwa-i-Jahandari, which gave him a reputation as a "fanatical protagonist of Islam"[25] and wrote that there should be "an all-out struggle against Hinduism", advocating a militant and dogmatic religiosity.[26] He developed a system of religious elitism to that effect.[26]

Historian Hayavadana C. Rao wrote about Tippu in his encyclopaedic work on the History of Mysore. He asserted that Tippu's "religious fanaticism and the excesses committed in the name of religion, both in Mysore and in the provinces, stand condemned for all time. His bigotry, indeed, was so great that it precluded all ideas of toleration". He further asserts that the acts of Tippu that were constructive towards Hindus were largely political and ostentatious rather than an indication of genuine tolerance.[27]

He also corresponded with the Sringeri Shankaracharya – expressing grief and indignation at a raid by Pindari horsemen, which killed many and plundered the monastery of its valuable possessions,[28] patronised the Melkote temple (which has gold and silver vessels with inscriptions indicating that they were presented by the Sultan), for which a Kannada decree was issued that the Shrivaishnava (Hindu sectary) invocatory verses there should be recited in the traditional form. Tipu Sultan also presented four silver cups to the Lakshmikanta Temple at Kalale[29] and probably presented the Ranganatha temple at Srirangapatana with seven silver cups and a silver camphor burner.[30] The Sringeri Sharada Peetham has in its safe possession some 24 letters written by the Sultan, who also sent a silver palanquin and a pair of silver chauris to the Sarada Temple as well.[31]

Tipu sent a letter on 19 January 1790 to the Governor of Bekal, Budruz Zuman Khan. It says:

Don't you know I have achieved a great victory recently in Malabar and over four lakh Hindus were converted to Islam? I am determined to march against that cursed Rama Varma (Rajah of Travancore) very soon. Since I am overjoyed at the prospect of converting him and his subjects to Islam, I have happily abandoned the idea of going back to Srirangapatanam now.[32]

Although the attitudes of Muslim ruler Tippu Sultan have been criticized as being anti-Hindu by Indian historians, left-wing historians note that he had an egalitarian attitude towards Hindus and was harsh towards them only when politically expedient.[33]

Indian historians Irfan Habib and Mohibbul Hasan argue that many of these accounts were written by British authors who had a strong interest in portraying their inveterate enemy, Tipu, as a tyrant, and as such were often exaggerated or outright fabricated.[34] This assessment is echoed by Brittlebank in her recent work.[35]

The Goa Inquisition was a colonial-era Portuguese institution established by the Roman Catholic Holy Office between the 16th- and 19th-century to stop and punish heresy against Christianity in South Asia.[36][37][38][39] The institution persecuted Hindus through the colonial era Portuguese government and Jesuit clergy in Portuguese India.[36] It was established in 1560, briefly suppressed from 1774 to 1778, continued thereafter and finally abolished in 1820.[40][41] The Inquisition punished those who had converted to Catholicism, but were suspected by Jesuit clergy of practising their previous religion in secret. Predominantly, the persecuted were accused of crypto-Hinduism.[42][43][44][45][46]

During British rule of the Indian subcontinent, several Evangelical Christian missionaries spread anti-Hindu propaganda as a method to convert Hindus to Christianity. Examples include missionaries like Abbe J.A. Dubois, who wrote "Once the devadasis' temple duties are over, they open their cells of infamy, and frequently convert the temple itself into a stew. A religion more shameful or indecent has never existed amongst a civilized people."[47]

The extremist Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which enforced strict sharia (Islamic law), announced plans to require all Hindus (and Sikhs) to wear identifying badges in public in May 2001, part of the Taliban's campaign to segregate and repress "un-Islamic and idolatrous segments" of Afghan society.[48][49] At the time, about 500 Hindus and 2,000 Sikhs remained in Afghanistan.[50] The Sikhs of Afghanistan were generally more tolerated by the Taliban compared to Shiites, Hindus and Christians.[51]

The anti-Hindu decree was seen as being reminiscent of the Nazi law which required all Jews to wear identifying yellow badges.[49][52][53] The order prompted international outrage, and it was denounced by the Indian and U.S. governments,[50] as well as by Abraham Foxman of the ADL.[52] Following international pressure, the Taliban regime dropped the badge plans in June 2001.[54]

Religious persecution, discrimination and forced conversion of Hindus has caused Afghanistan's Hindu population to dwindle.[55]

Sikhs and Hindus are continuing to flee from Afghanistan in July 2020.[56]

In Bangladesh political leaders frequently fall back on "Hindu bashing" in an attempt to appeal to extremist sentiment and stir up communal passions.[57] In one of the most notorious utterances of a mainstream Bangladeshi figure, the then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, while leader of the opposition in 1996, declared that the country was at risk of hearing "uludhhwani" (a Bengali Hindu custom involving women's ululation) from mosques, replacing the azaan (Muslim call to prayer).[58]

Even the supposedly secular Bangladesh Awami League is not immune from this kind of scare-mongering. The current prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, was alleged to have accused Bangladeshi Hindu leaders in New York of having divided loyalties with "one foot in India and one in Bangladesh". Successive events such as this have contributed to a feeling of tremendous insecurity among the Hindu minority.[59]

The fundamentalists and right-wing parties such as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jatiya Party often portray Hindus as being sympathetic to India, making accusations of dual loyalty and allegations of transferring economic resources to India, contributing to a widespread perception that Bangladeshi Hindus are disloyal to the state. Also, the right wing parties claim the Hindus to be backing the Awami League.[60]

As widely documented in international media, Bangladesh authorities have had to increase security to enable Bangladeshi Hindus to worship freely[61] following widespread attacks on places of worship and devotees.

On 28 February 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, the Vice President of the Jamaat-e-Islami to death for the war crimes committed during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. Following the sentence, activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir attacked the Hindus in different parts of the country. Hindu properties were looted, Hindu houses were burnt into ashes and Hindu temples were desecrated and set on fire.[62][63] While the government has held the Jamaat-e-Islami responsible for the attacks on the minorities, the Jamaat-e-Islami leadership has denied any involvement. The minority leaders have protested the attacks and appealed for justice. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has directed the law enforcement to start suo motu investigation into the attacks. US Ambassador to Bangladesh express concern about attack of Jamaat on Bengali Hindu community.[64][65] The violence included the looting of Hindu properties and businesses, the burning of Hindu homes, rape of Hindu women and desecration and destruction of Hindu temples.[66] According to community leaders, more than 50 Hindu temples and 1,500 Hindu homes were destroyed in 20 districts.[67] On 5 May 2014, A mob of almost 3,000 attacked Hindu households and a temple in eastern Bangladesh after two youths from the community allegedly insulted the Islamic prophet, Muhammad on Facebook.[68][69][70]

Idols in some temples have been broken.[71]

In Pakistan, anti-Hindu sentiments and beliefs are widely held among many sections of the population. There is a general stereotype against Hindus in Pakistan. Hindus are regarded as "miserly".[72] Also, Hindus are often regarded as "Kaffirs" (lit. "unbelievers") and blamed for "causing all the problems in Pakistan".[73] Islamic fundamentalist groups operating within Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan have broadcast or disseminated anti-Hindu propaganda among the masses,[74] referring to Hindus as "Hanood" ('Hindu' is singular and Hanood is plural form in Urdu) blaming them for "collaborating with the foreigners" against the people of the region. At the time of Pakistan's creation the 'hostage theory' had been espoused. According to this theory the Hindu minority in Pakistan was to be given a fair deal in Pakistan in order to ensure the protection of the Muslim minority in India.[75][76] However, Khawaja Nazimuddin, the 2nd Prime Minister of Pakistan stated: "I do not agree that religion is a private affair of the individual nor do I agree that in an Islamic state every citizen has identical rights, no matter what his caste, creed or faith be".[77]

Separate electorates for Hindus and Christians were established in 1985—a policy which was originally proposed by Islamist leader Abul A'la Maududi. Christian and Hindu leaders complained that they felt excluded from the county's political process, but the policy had strong support from Islamists.[78]

The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), a coalition of Islamist political parties in Pakistan, calls for the increased Islamization of the government and society, specifically taking an anti-Hindu stance. The MMA leads the opposition in the national assembly, held a majority in the NWFP Provincial Assembly, and was part of the ruling coalition in Balochistan. However, some members of the MMA made efforts to eliminate their rhetoric against Hindus.[79]

The public school curriculum in Pakistan was Islamized during the 1980s.[80] The government of Pakistan claims to undertake a major revision to eliminate such teachings and to remove Islamic teaching from secular subjects.[79] The bias in Pakistani textbooks was also documented by Y. Rosser (2003). She wrote that

"in the past few decades, social studies textbooks in Pakistan have been used as locations to articulate the hatred that Pakistani policy makers have attempted to inculcate towards their Hindu neighbours", and that as a result "in the minds of generations of Pakistanis, indoctrinated by the 'Ideology of Pakistan' are lodged fragments of hatred and suspicion."[81]

The bias in Pakistani textbooks was studied by Rubina Saigol, K. K. Aziz, I. A. Rahman, Mubarak Ali, A. H. Nayyar, Ahmed Saleem, Y. Rosser and others.

A study by Nayyar & Salim (2003) that was conducted with 30 experts of Pakistan's education system, found that the textbooks contain statements that seek to create hate against Hindus. There was also an emphasis on Jihad, Shahadat, wars and military heroes. The study reported that the textbooks also had a lot of gender-biased stereotypes. Some of the problems in Pakistani textbooks cited in the report were:

"Insensitivity to the existing religious diversity of the nation"; "Incitement to militancy and violence, including encouragement of Jihad and Shahadat"; a "glorification of war and the use of force"; "Inaccuracies of fact and omissions that serve to substantially distort the nature and significance of actual events in our history"; "Perspectives that encourage prejudice, bigotry and discrimination towards fellow citizens, especially women and religious minorities, and other towards nations" and "Omission of concepts ... that could encourage critical self awareness among students". (Nayyar & Salim 2003). The Pakistani Curriculum document for classes K-V stated in 1995 that "at the completion of Class-V, the child should be able to "Understand Hindu-Muslim differences and the resultant need for Pakistan. [p. 154]

A more recent textbook which was published in Pakistan and titled "A Short History of Pakistan" edited by Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi has been heavily criticized by academic peer-reviewers for anti-Hindu biases and prejudices that are consistent with Pakistani nationalism, where Hindus are portrayed as "villains" and Muslims as "victims" living under the "disastrous Hindu rule" and "betraying the Muslims to the British", characterizations that academic reviewers found "disquieting" and having a "warped subjectivity".[82][83][84]

Ameer Hamza, a leader of the banned terrorist group Lashkar-e-Toiba, wrote a highly derogatory book about Hinduism in 1999 called "Hindu Ki Haqeeqat" ("Reality of (a) Hindu"); he was not prosecuted by the Government.[85]

According to the Sustainable Development Policy Institute report 'Associated with the insistence on the Ideology of Pakistan has been an essential component of hate against India and the Hindus. For the upholders of the Ideology of Pakistan, the existence of Pakistan is defined only in relation to Hindus, and hence the Hindus have to be painted as negatively as possible'[86] A 2005 report by the National Commission for Justice and Peace a non profit organization in Pakistan, found that Pakistan Studies textbooks in Pakistan have been used to articulate the hatred that Pakistani policy-makers have attempted to inculcate towards the Hindus. 'Vituperative animosities legitimise military and autocratic rule, nurturing a siege mentality. Pakistan Studies textbooks are an active site to represent India as a hostile neighbour' the report stated. 'The story of Pakistan's past is intentionally written to be distinct from, and often in direct contrast with, interpretations of history found in India. From the government-issued textbooks, students are taught that Hindus are backward and superstitious.' Further the report stated 'Textbooks reflect intentional obfuscation. Today's students, citizens of Pakistan and its future leaders are the victims of these partial truths'.[87][88][89][90]

An editorial in Pakistan's oldest newspaper Dawn commenting on a report in the Guardian on Pakistani Textbooks noted 'By propagating concepts such as jihad, the inferiority of non-Muslims, India's ingrained enmity with Pakistan, etc., the textbook board publications used by all government schools promote a mindset that is bigoted and obscurantist. Since there are more children studying in these schools than in madrassahs the damage done is greater. '[91][92] According to the historian Professor Mubarak Ali, textbook reform in Pakistan began with the introduction of Pakistan Studies and Islamic studies by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1971 into the national curriculum as compulsory subject. Former military dictator Gen Zia-ul-Haq under a general drive towards Islamization, started the process of historical revisionism in earnest and exploited this initiative. 'The Pakistani establishment taught their children right from the beginning that this state was built on the basis of religion – that's why they don't have tolerance for other religions and want to wipe-out all of them.'[92][93]

By the time Fiji gained independence from colonial rule, Hindus and other Indo-Fijians constituted nearly fifty-percent of the total Fijian population. Nevertheless, the colonial-era laws and the first constitution for Fiji, granted special rights to native Fijians. These laws relegated Hindus as second class citizens of Fiji without full rights. For example, it denied them property rights, such as the ability to buy or own land. Hindus and other Indo-Fijians have since then not enjoyed equal human rights as other Fijians. They can only work as tenant farmers for Fijian landlords.[94] The difference in human rights has been a continuing source of conflict between "native" Fijians and Indo-Fijians, with native Fijians believing Fiji to be their ancestral land that only they can own, and Indo-Fijians demanding equal rights for all human beings.

Beyond land ownership, Hindus have been persecuted in the Fijian communal structure. Spike Boydell states, "the [colonial authorities] introduced the divisive and unworkable system of communal representation and communal electoral rolls. Thus, different communities were represented by their own kind. This still extends to schooling in a prevailing quasi apartheid educational system."[95]

During the late 1990s, Fiji witnessed a series of riots by radical native Fijians against Hindus (and other Indo-Fijians). In the spring of 2000, the democratically elected Fijian government led by Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, who was a Hindu, was held hostage by a group headed by George Speight. They demanded a segregated state exclusively for the native Fijians, thereby legally abolishing any human rights the Hindu inhabitants held up until then. Hindu owned shops, Hindu schools and temples were destroyed, vandalized and looted.[96][97]

The Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma, and particularly Sitiveni Rabuka who led the 1987 coup in Fiji, called for the creation of a Christian State and endorsed forceful conversion of Hindus after a coup d'état in 1987. In 2012, Fiji Methodist Church's president, Tuikilakila Waqairatu, called for Fiji to officially declare Christianity as the state religion; the Hindu community leaders demanded that Fiji be a secular state where religion and state are separate.[98]

In April 2006, local authorities demolished several Hindu temples to make way for developmental projects. Their reason was that these temples were unlicensed and squatting on government land. In April and May 2006, several Hindu temples were demolished by city hall authorities in the country, accompanied by violence against Hindus.[99] On 21 April 2006, the Malaimel Sri Selva Kaliamman Temple in Kuala Lumpur was reduced to rubble after the city hall sent in bulldozers.[100]

The president of the Consumers Association of Subang and Shah Alam in Selangor had been helping to organise efforts to stop the local authorities in the Muslim dominated city of Shah Alam from demolishing a 107-year-old Hindu temple. The growing Islamization in Malaysia is a cause for concern to many Malaysians who follow minority religions such as Hinduism.[101]

On 11 May 2006, armed city hall officers from Kuala Lumpur forcefully demolished part of a 60-year-old suburban temple that serves more than 1,000 Hindus. The "Hindu Rights Action Force", a coalition of several NGO's, have protested these demolitions by lodging complaints with the Malaysian Prime Minister.[102] Many Hindu advocacy groups have protested what they allege is a systematic plan of temple cleansing in Malaysia. The official reason given by the Malaysian government has been that the temples were built "illegally". However, several of the temples are centuries old.[102] According to a lawyer for the Hindu Rights Action Task Force, a Hindu temple is demolished in Malaysia once every three weeks.[103]

Malaysian Muslims have also grown more anti-Hindu over the years. In response to the proposed construction of a temple in Selangor, Muslims chopped off the head of a cow to protest, with leaders saying there would be blood if a temple was constructed in Shah Alam.[104]

Laws in the country, especially those concerning religious identity, are generally slanted towards compulsion into converting to Islam[105]

The first Hindus arrived in the British colony of Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean aboard the Fatel Razack on 31 May 1845 as indentured laborers who were brought by the British after their abolition of slavery; they were followed by thousands more who came between 1845 to 1917. They worked on the sugarcane, rice, cocoa, and coffee estates. The indentured laborers primarily came from the Bhojpuri region and the Awadhi region of the Hindi Belt in North India. A significant minority also came from South India and very few came from the Punjab, Maharashtra, Kumaon, Garhwal, Haryana, Jammu, Kashmir, Gujarat, Kutch, Odisha, and Bengal regions. A majority of the laborers were Hindu. Unlike the African slaves who they succeeded, the Indians were allowed to keep their culture and traditions. This led to many Hindu immigrants passing on the faith and despite efforts by Christian missionaries to convert them many continued to practice Hinduism. Today, Hinduism is the second largest religion in Trinidad and Tobago and the largest religion of the Indian population in Trinidad and Tobago. Although they were allowed to continue their religion they were met with contempt or indifference by the non-Hindu residents of the country. The Hindu and Muslim clashes that occurred in South Asia continued to occur in Trinidad and Tobago during the days of indentureship and especially while in the Partition of India was going on back in South Asia. During indentureship and even after independence, Hindus have been treated as second class citizens by Trinidad and Tobago.

The Hindus in Trinidad and Tobago struggled during the early days after independence and even during the period of colonial rule over the granting of adult franchise, a Hindu marriage act, Hindu schools, cremation ordinance, the right to Diwali as a public holiday, and others. Many of these rights were later granted, due to the efforts of Adrian Cola Rienzi (Krishna Deonarine Tiwari) and the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, the major Hindu organization in Trinidad and Tobago led by Bhadase Sagan Maraj. The Temple in the Sea, an iconic Hindu temple in Trinidad and Tobago has its history rooted in the faith of Hinduism. It was originally built by an indentured laborer from British India named Sewdass Sadhu, who actually had built the first temple on property belonging to the estate owners and the temple had to be torn down and he was jailed. After that, he built a second temple out into the sea which became known as the Temple in the Sea.

During the Black Power Revolution after independence in the 1960s-1970s many Hindu were targeted and attacked, and riots had broken out. These attacks, the poverty that affected many Hindus, and the status of being treated as second-class citizens led to many Hindu Trinidadians to migrate to the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada. After independence the Hindus were marginalized by the African-based People's National Movement (PNM). The opposing party, the People's Democratic Party (PDP) led by Bhadase Sagan Maraj, later turning into the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) led by Rudranath Capildeo, then finally turning into the present-day United National Congress (UNC) party led by Basdeo Panday and Kamla Persad-Bissessar, was portrayed as a Hindu party and an Indian party and tactics were used against them. Hindus were described as a "recalcitrant and hostile minority", by Prime Minister Eric Williams. Hindus were alienated by such communal groups. The support of the PNM government to Christian Afro-Trinidadian and Tobagonian and Creole art forms such as Carnival and Christmas, while their public rejection and ridicule of Hindu art forms, was a particular source of contention for the Hindus. The displacement of PNM from power in 1985 would improve the circumstances. There has been persistent discontent among the Hindus with their marginalization. Many groups portray Hindus as "clannish, backward and miserly". During the General Elections of 1986, the absence of the Bhagavad Gita and the Quran at polling stations for required oath-taking was interpreted as a gross insult to Hindus and Muslims. The absence of any Hindu religious texts at the official residence of the President of Trinidad and Tobago during the swearing in of the new Government in 1986 was perceived as another insult to the minority communities since they were represented in the government. The national education system and curriculum have been repeatedly accused of such majority-oriented symbolism. The use of discernibly oriented prayers at Government schools, the non-representation of Hinduism in approved school textbooks, and the lack of emphasis on Hindu religious observance evoked deep resentment from the Hindu community. Intensified protests over the course of the 1980s led to an improvement in the state's attitudes towards Hindus.[106][107]

In October 2018, it was reported that Conservative Party candidate for the Mayor of London Shaun Bailey had written a pamphlet, entitled No Man’s Land, for the Centre for Policy Studies. In it, Bailey argued that accommodating Hindus "[robs] Britain of its community" and it is also turning the country into a "crime riddled cess pool". He also claimed that South Asians "bring their culture, their country and any problems they might have, with them" and that this was not a problem within the black community "because we’ve shared a religion and in many cases a language".[108]

In the pamphlet, Bailey confused the Hindu religion with the Hindi language: "You don’t know what to do. You bring your children to school and they learn far more about Diwali than Christmas. I speak to the people who are from Brent and they’ve been having Hindi (sic) days off."[109]

The Conservative Party Deputy Chairman, James Cleverly, defended Bailey and insisted that he was being misunderstood, and he implied that black boys were drifting into crime as a result of learning more about other faiths rather than learning about "their own Christian culture".[110] However, the anti-racism Hope Not Hate campaign group called Bailey's comments "grotesque".[111]

By the late 19th century, fear had already begun to spread in North America with regard to Chinese immigrants who supplied cheap labor to lay railroad tracks, mostly in California and elsewhere in the West Coast. In the xenophobic jargon which was common at that time, ordinary workers, newspapers, and politicians uniformly opposed this "Yellow Peril". The common cause to eradicate Asians from the workforce gave rise to the Asiatic Exclusion League. When the fledgling Indian community which was mostly made up of Punjabi Sikhs settled in California, the xenophobia was expanded in order to combat not only the East Asian Yellow Peril, but now the immigrants from British India, the Turban Tide, equally referred to as the Hindoo Invasion (sic).[112][113][114]

The rise of the Indian American community in the United States has triggered some isolated attacks on them, as has been the case with many minority groups in the United States. Attacks which specifically target Hindus in the United States stem from what is often referred to as the "racialization of religion" among Americans, a process that begins when certain phenotypical features which are associated with a group and attached to race in popular discourse become associated with a particular religion or religions. The racialization of Hinduism in American perception has led Americans to perceive Hindus as belonging to a separate group and this contributes to prejudices against them.[115]

In 2019, Swaminarayan Temple in Kentucky was vandalised by miscreants. They sprayed black paint on the deity and sprayed 'Jesus is the only God’ on the walls. The Christian cross was also spray painted on various walls.[116][117] In April 2015, a Hindu temple in north Texas was vandalised when nasty images were spray-painted on its walls. In February 2015, Hindu temples in Kent and the Seattle Metropolitan area were also vandalised.[118][119]

In July 2019, a Hindu Priest who was dressed in his religious attire was physically beaten in Queens, New York, two blocks from Shiv Shakti Peeth Temple in Glen Oaks by Sergio Gouveia. A Senator and New York State Attorney General have called it a hate crime because "If someone is targeted because of religious robe and couple of blocks from temple where he resides it is difficult to believe this was random." Yet, the New York police have not registered it as a hate crime.[120][121]

In addition, anti-Hindu views have been expressed which are specifically based on misperceptions of the religion of Hinduism as well as mistaken racial perceptions. In the United States Pat Robertson has denounced Hinduism as "demonic," believing that when Hindus "feel any sort of inspiration, whether it's by a river or under a tree, on top of a hill, they figure that some God or spirit is responsible for that. And so they'll worship that tree, they'll worship that hill or they'll worship anything."[122] His remarks were widely condemned and disputed by Indian Americans and members of many non-partisan advocacy groups.[123] Evangelical leader Albert Mohler defended Robertson's remarks, saying "any belief system, any world view, whether it's Zen Buddhism or Hinduism or dialectical materialism for that matter, Marxism, that keeps persons captive and keeps them from coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, yes, is a demonstration of satanic power."[124]

In July, 2007, The United States Senate conducted its morning prayer services with a Hindu prayer,[125] a historical first. During the service, three disruptors, named Ante Nedlko Pavkovic, Katherine Lynn Pavkovic and Christen Renee Sugar, from the Fundamentalist Christian activist group Operation Save America[126] protested by arguing that the Hindu prayer was "an abomination", and they also claimed that they were "Christians and Patriots". They were swiftly arrested and charged with disrupting Congress.[127][128]

The event generated a storm of protest by Christian right groups in the country, with the American Family Association (AFA) opposing the prayer and carrying out a campaign to lobby senators to protest against it.[129][130] Their representative attacked the proceedings as "gross idolatry".[126] The AFA sent an "Action Alert" to its members in which it asked them to e-mail, write letters, or call their Senators and ask them to oppose the Hindu prayer, stating that it is "seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god."[131][132][133] The "alert" stated that "since Hindus worship multiple gods, the prayer will be completely outside the American paradigm, flying in the face of the American motto One Nation Under God."[134] The convocation by Zed was in fact disrupted by three protesters in the gallery reportedly shouting "this is an abomination" and other complaints.[131]

Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the protest "shows the intolerance of many religious right activists. They say they want more religion in the public square, but it's clear they mean only their religion."[126]

A controversy in the US state of California concerning the portrayal of Hinduism in history textbooks began in 2005. The protest was led by Vedic Foundation (VF) and the American Hindu Education Foundation (HEF) by complaining to the California's Curriculum Commission, saying the coverage in sixth grade history textbooks of Indian history and Hinduism was biased against Hinduism; and points of contention includes a textbook's portrayal of the caste system, the Indo-Aryan migration theory, and the status of women in Indian society as the main features of Hinduism.

The California Department of Education (CDE) initially sought to resolve the controversy by appointing Shiva Bajpai, Professor Emeritus at California State University Northridge, as a one-man committee to review revisions proposed by the groups.[135] Michael Witzel and others revisited the proposed changed on behalf of the State Board of Education and suggested reverting some of the approved changes.[136] In early 2006, the Hindu American Foundation sued the State Board over matters of process;[136] the case was settled in 2009.

The Dotbusters was a hate group in Jersey City, New Jersey that attacked and threatened Indian-Americans in the fall of 1987. The name originates from the bindi traditionally worn by Hindu women and girls on their forehead. In July 1987, they had a letter published in the Jersey Journal[137] stating that they would take any means necessary to drive the Indians out of Jersey City:

I'm writing about your article during july [sic] about the abuse of Indian People. Well I'm here to state the other side. I hate them, if you had to live near them you would also. We are an organization called dot busters. We have been around for 2 years. We will go to any extreme to get Indians to move out of Jersey City. If I'm walking down the street and I see a Hindu and the setting is right, I will hit him or her. We plan some of our most extreme attacks such as breaking windows, breaking car windows, and crashing family parties. We use the phone books and look up the name Patel. Have you seen how many of them there are? Do you even live in Jersey City? Do you walk down Central avenue and experience what its [sic] like to be near them: we have and we just don't want it anymore. You said that they will have to start protecting themselves because the police cannot always be there. They will never do anything. They are a weak [sic] race physically and mentally. We are going to continue our way. We will never be stopped.[138]