On April 22, 2025, a brutal terrorist attack in Pahalgam targeted Hindu tourists. Survivors recount that the assailants asked victims to state their religion—those who did not say they were Muslim were shot. Women and children were spared, seemingly to return and recount the horror.
Yet beyond a few vague reports about “gunmen” killing “tourists” in Kashmir, the global silence was deafening.
This isn’t an isolated oversight—it’s part of a deeply troubling pattern. From the massacre and mass exodus of over 500,000 Kashmiri Pandits to the ongoing targeting of Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh, Hindu suffering is consistently overlooked.
When violence strikes other religious communities, the world rightly responds with immediate outrage. But when Hindus are attacked, the reaction is muted—if it comes at all. It forces us to confront an uncomfortable but necessary question: What is a Hindu’s life worth?
An Unequal Narrative
Bias is not always found in what is said—it often lurks in what is left unsaid. When it comes to Hindus, violence is downplayed, underreported, or misframed. Terrorist attacks against Hindus are rarely portrayed with the same moral clarity or urgency afforded to other victims. Instead, they are softened into “clashes” or “unrest,” blurring the lines between attacker and victim.
In Pahalgam, reports described the event with vague terms like “gunmen” and “tourists,” erasing both the religious motive and the identity of those targeted. This linguistic evasion is not mere semantics—it shapes perception.
When religiously motivated attacks on Hindus are sanitized or obscured, it quietly sends a message: their suffering matters less.
A History Erased or Ignored
This pattern is not new. The Partition of India in 1947—one of the bloodiest upheavals of the 20th century—disproportionately impacted Hindus and Sikhs. Millions were displaced, hundreds of thousands slaughtered.
Yet global narratives often flatten these tragedies into vague “communal violence,” avoiding any honest reckoning with who bore the heaviest burden.Even today, attacks on Hindu communities across South Asia barely register in international discourse. The historical arc is unmistakable: Hindu trauma is rarely framed as a human rights issue.
Such selective memory breeds alienation. It sends a chilling signal—that some lives are simply less visible, and therefore, less valuable.
A Faith That Embraces All, Yet Is Rarely Understood
In today’s public discourse, Hinduism’s profound pluralism is often caricatured or dismissed. Hindus are derided as “idol worshippers,” their ancient wisdom reduced to stereotypes.
Meanwhile, Western democracies, though formally secular, freely frame their values in Judeo- Christian terms—often overlooking other spiritual traditions that align closely with modern ideals.
Hindu principles of non-violence, compassion, reverence for nature, and respect for diversity echo the very values the World now claims to cherish. Yet they are rarely acknowledged, let alone celebrated, on equal footing.
Toward a More Honest Discourse
It is time to demand better. Reporting on religiously motivated violence must be accurate, specific, and courageous.
The silence around attacks on Hindus must be broken—not to foster grievance or fuel division, but to call for fairness.
This is not a competition of victimhood. It is a call for equal compassion, equal visibility, and equal humanity.
Because a Hindu’s life is not worth less. It only feels that way when the world refuses to see.
Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed in this article/column are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of South Asian Herald.
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