The phenomenon of Hinduphobia has emerged as a pressing global concern, manifesting in acts of temple desecration, religious persecution, forced conversions, and systemic discrimination. These incidents, rather than existing as isolated occurrences, form part of a broader geopolitical pattern of hostility toward Hindu communities. The frequency and severity of these attacks necessitate an urgent academic and policy-driven discourse on the institutional mechanisms required to safeguard Hindu cultural and religious identity on a transnational scale.
On March 8, 2025, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Chino Hills, California, was desecrated with anti-India messages, coinciding with a so-called ‘Khalistani referendum’ in Los Angeles. This deliberate act of vandalism is a continuation of targeted attacks against Hindu places of worship in Western societies. The BAPS Public Affairs division strongly condemned the act, reiterating that the Hindu community will remain resilient against such expressions of hate. This event follows a similar attack in February 2024, further highlighting an orchestrated attempt to intimidate and marginalize Hindu communities.
In the United Kingdom, a seminal study by the Henry Jackson Society, published in The Telegraph, identified widespread religious bullying and coercion faced by Hindu students in British schools. The study details explicit instances wherein Hindu children were pressured to convert to Islam, subjected to derogatory terms such as “kaffir,” and threatened with eternal damnation unless they abandoned their faith. The report further elucidates that Hindu students were forced to watch conversion videos and denigrating portrayals of Hinduism. Such findings underscore an institutional blind spot in Western educational frameworks concerning the protection of religious minorities.
Historically, Hinduphobia has been inextricably linked to violent persecution. On August 25, 2017, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) orchestrated the Kha Maung Seik Massacre, resulting in the death of over 99 Hindus in Myanmar. Amnesty International’s investigation revealed systematic executions, forced conversions, and religiously motivated abductions. In Fiji, a nation where Hindus constitute a significant demographic, anti-Hindu riots escalated in the late 1990s, culminating in the 2000 coup led by George Speight. The coup, which removed the democratically elected Indo-Fijian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, heralded an era of heightened aggression against Hindu institutions, with government reports documenting a 14% increase in temple attacks since 2004.
The plight of Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh remains one of the most egregious human rights crises of the modern era. Reports indicate that in Pakistan alone, an estimated 20-25 Hindu girls are abducted every month, coerced into conversion, and subjected to forced marriages. In Bangladesh, Hindu temples and businesses frequently fall victim to mob violence, yet international condemnation remains disproportionately muted. These instances reveal a broader regional framework of state-supported or state-tolerated persecution, demanding robust intergovernmental intervention.
The pattern extends beyond South Asia. In Australia, three Hindu temples in Melbourne and Victoria were defaced in January 2024, inscribed with anti-India slogans and Hinduphobic graffiti. These incidents, coupled with earlier temple vandalizations in Louisville, Kentucky (2019) and New Jersey (1987, during the Dotbusters attacks), demonstrate that such acts of aggression are neither new nor confined to a single geographical region.
Perhaps even more alarming is the emergence of digital and state-sanctioned Hinduphobia. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry, in 2025, posted a graphic depiction of Maa Kali in a disrespectful and demeaning posture. This event, which was met with immediate global backlash, serves as a poignant reminder of how Hindu cultural and religious symbols are routinely subjected to misrepresentation and mockery.
The Strategic Imperative for a Sanatan Confederation
Given that 1.8 billion Sanatan Dharmis exist worldwide—including Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs—the establishment of a Global Sanatan Dharma-Dhamma Confederation emerges as a geopolitical necessity. This proposed intergovernmental alliance would function as a political, cultural, and diplomatic body advocating for the protection of Sanatan Dharma practitioners while reinforcing global Hindu unity.
This confederation would include nations with Hindu-majority or significant Hindu populations such as Nepal, Mauritius, Fiji, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Guyana, Suriname, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Japan, and Mongolia. Furthermore, global powers such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and the European Union could be invited as observer states, fostering constructive international dialogue on the protection of Hindu communities.
While organizations such as the Visha Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) have contributed substantially to Hindu advocacy, a formalized Sanatan Confederation under India’s leadership would elevate these efforts to a diplomatic and policy-oriented level. Such an initiative would solidify India’s role as a Vishwaguru Bharat, ensuring that Hindu concerns are not relegated to the periphery of global human rights discourses but instead become integral to international policymaking.
This confederation must function as a unified voice for Sanatan Dharma-Dhamma, prioritizing the following objectives:
Global Advocacy for Hindu Rights: Establishing a legal and diplomatic framework for persecuted Hindus, enabling international representation at forums such as the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
Protection of Hindu Temples and Cultural Institutions: Ensuring international legal provisions for the restitution of desecrated Hindu sites and safeguarding Hindu religious artifacts.
Educational and Media Countermeasures: Developing academic curricula and public awareness campaigns to counteract Hinduphobia and rectify historical misrepresentations of Hinduism.
Economic and Strategic Collaborations: Enhancing trade and cultural exchanges among Sanatan Dharma nations, reinforcing economic self-reliance within this global religious bloc.
By instituting such a body, India can adopt a proactive global stance, ensuring that Hindus and Sanatan Dharmis worldwide are no longer vulnerable to violence, discrimination, and erasure. Prime Minister Narendra Modi must take a decisive leadership role in initiating this confederation, galvanizing support from policymakers, Hindu intellectuals, and diaspora communities worldwide.
The formation of a Global Sanatan Confederation is not a symbolic or reactionary measure—it is an essential geopolitical move for securing the future of Sanatan Dharma in an increasingly volatile world. The precedent exists: other religious and cultural groups have successfully established intergovernmental alliances to advocate for their collective rights and interests. It is time for India to rise to this responsibility and lead a Dharma and Dhamma alliance that will not only protect Hinduism but also reinforce Bharat’s identity as the spiritual and intellectual epicenter of global civilization.
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