An Indian Hindu family residing in the West Midlands county of England has experienced multiple attacks by extremists since July of this year. Despite reporting five instances of harassment to the West Midlands police, the incidents were not registered as ‘hate crimes,’ as revealed by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
The victims, identified as Ramana Nagumalli, his wife Radhika Kulkarni, and their 8-year-old daughter, faced a mob outside a local leisure center in one incident. The same individuals later came to their house, kicking their front door and using derogatory terms like ‘Kafirs’ to refer to non-Muslims.
The couple, who have an eight-year-old daughter, reported harassment to the police on five occasions in July this year, including one in which a group of youths surrounded them outside a local leisure centre.
“They just grabbed us and made a circle around us. I got scared, I held my daughter’s hand and I just ran away,” Kulkarni said.
Nagumalli added: “They said they wanted to punch me, fight with me. We were so scared.”
The family is now fearful to leave their home, and Radhika Kulkarni, in describing their distressing ordeal, expressed, “I was shivering outside, I was just crying. We didn’t do anything to anyone. Why is this hate there?” The family has endured emotional and mental trauma, experiencing nightmares and panic attacks.
Despite their complaints, the West Midlands police, in response to an inquiry by the BBC, stated that there was insufficient evidence to categorize the crimes as a ‘racially aggravated offense.’ The police emphasized a ‘community resolution’ and did not label the attacks as ‘hate crimes,’ citing the young age of the individuals involved.
The family insisted that the police should have treated the incidents as hate crimes to prevent others from facing similar ordeals. The BBC noted a significant increase in hate crimes (251 per cent rise) in the West Midlands area, from 2531 (2011-2012) to 8897 (2022-2023).
A study by the UK-based think tank, Henry Jackson Society, in April revealed that Hindu students in the country are facing bullying and racial discrimination. The research, which involved interviewing 988 Hindu parents and surveying over 1000 schools, highlighted instances of Hindu students being bullied by their Muslim classmates and pressured to convert to Islam.
The study revealed that 51 per cent of surveyed Hindu parents reported their children experiencing anti-Hindu hate in schools, while less than 1 per cent of the surveyed schools acknowledged any incidents related to anti-Hindu behavior in the past five years.
The study detailed eight physical assaults, including incidents such as a female Hindu pupil having beef thrown on her and a male student changing East London schools three times due to anti-Hindu bullying. Concerns were raised about a problematic teaching approach to Hinduism that contributes directly to classroom bullying.
Charlotte Littlewood highlighted instances where Hindu students were subjected to mockery for their vegetarianism, and their deities were disparaged, resembling the tactics used by radical Islamists who targeted the Hindu community in Leicester.
