A Muslim woman, her parents and a cleric in Kanpur allegedly brainwashed a minor Hindu boy to convert and marry her.
Simran, daughter of Mohd Haneef and Jameela Bano, coerced Nikhil Singh (16) to marry her. She is a divorcee and has two kids from a previous marriage. Reportedly, she lured the boy, and her family groomed him for a year before the conversion.
Sewa Nyaya Uththan Foundation (SNUF) filed a complaint with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) for Nikhil. The Commission took prompt action and brought Nikhil home after police arrested Simran, her parents and the cleric who led the Nikah.
Nikhil’s story reminds us that young Hindu boys are just as vulnerable to these vile traps as Hindu girls.
Similar crimes targeting minor Hindu
Nikhil’s case isn’t an isolated story of an underage Hindu falling prey to conversion Nikah. There is a well-reported pattern in such crimes targeting the Hindu community, especially in countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh, where Hinduphobia is a common and permitted practice.
For example, in Pakistan, every month, grooming gangs from the majority community abduct and forcibly convert as many as 20 underage Hindu girls, who can never see or connect with their families again. What’s worse is that such gangs force these girls to marry much older Muslim men (or sell them into prostitution).
Such crimes are a regular affair, especially in the Sindh region. These abductors take pride in such heinous activities because they insist they are doing “good work”. Police, judiciary and the government have refused to investigate these cases.
In India, many states are looking for ways to counter ‘Love Jihad’ – a pattern of crimes wherein men from the Muslim community fake identities to lure Hindu women. They forge these relationships only for religious conversion and sexual exploitation. These men often conceal their religious and/or marital identity till the woman is completely disconnected from her family.
These patterns aren’t restricted to the sub-continent alone. In April, the UK stirred a diplomatic row with Pakistan when the British Home Secretary Suella Braverman called for a crackdown on “Grooming Gangs” led by British Pakistani men in England.
She said, “(We see) a practice whereby vulnerable white English girls — sometimes in care, sometimes in challenging circumstances — being pursued, raped, drugged, and harmed by gangs of British Pakistani men, who work in child abuse rings or networks.”
Taking cognisance of a complaint by Sewa Nyaya Utthan Foundation, National Child Commission has intervened @NCPCR_ in a Kanpur case where a minor boy has been allegedly forcibly converted to another religion and married off
We put a smile on the face of Preeti Patel, a single mother of two who left an abusive marriage a few years ago. Preeti lives in her parental house in Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh. and struggles to make a living by selling bead necklaces. Sewa Nyaya Uththan Foundation (SNUF) helped her utilize her tailoring skills to generate a new source of income.
So far, Preeti has tried to generate income by making necklaces sold at a mere INR 170 for 12 pieces. It takes her a month to make and sell them. With such a weak source of income, Preeti could barely send her elder child to school. When we spoke to her, she didn’t know how to manage schooling for the second child. Her parents do odd jobs at a school nearby to sustain their living and, therefore, cannot support her much financially.
Since she knew how to tailor and mend clothes, SNUF gifted her a sewing machine to increase her livelihood prospects. As one can see in the tweet below, she was grateful for receiving the support.
SNUF works with several disadvantaged women from vulnerable Hindu families by providing them with the tools and resources they need to lead dignified lives. Many women like Preeti need support to unleash their full potential and become self-sufficient.
Recently, SNUF received the Sree Narayana Guru Award for Social Work on September 15, 2023. The award, presented at the Pondy Lit Fest, recognised SNUF’s outstanding efforts in rehabilitating vulnerable people who have endured profound hardships. Furthermore, the foundation has played a vital role in supporting tribal and Dalit refugees from Pakistan by offering them immediate shelter and sustenance and establishing educational centres where hundreds of refugee children receive free education.
Preeti Patel is a single mother of two. She makes bead necklaces for a living, which earn her only Rs 170 for 12 pieces. They take half-a-month to make
On July 14, 2023, when Chandrayaan 3 successfully landed on the moon, refugee Hindu children studying at our Jodhpur centre broke into a celebration as they saw live how their prayers for the mission’s success turned true,
These underprivileged children at our free coaching centre realised what this mission meant for ISRO, Bharat and every Indian. They requested their teachers for a collective ‘Prarthana’ for the third mission in the Chandrayaan programme, a series of lunar exploration missions by ISRO.
Our entire team immediately got to work to fulfil their beautiful longings. We organized a live broadcast of the Chandrayaan 3 mission launch at our centre and arranged a Prarthana event. On July 14, these children prayed fervently for the mission’s success. Their faces lit up with smiles as they saw live on TV how the spacecraft landed on the moon successfully.
Expressing their hopes for a bright future for the country, our students also talked about contributing to various fields in the future, thereby bringing further glory to the nation.
In Jodhpur, Sewa Nyaya Uththan Foundation (SNUF) conducts a free coaching centre for refugee Hindu children. These students come from poor families that migrated to India to flee religious persecution in Pakistan. They spent all their resources to obtain visas and other paperwork required to start their lives afresh in India. They settle mostly around cities in Rajasthan, especially Jodhpur and Jaisalmer.
SNUF is committed to supporting such vulnerable families to find their feet in India. Other than education centres, we also support them with shelter, livelihood, drinking water and ration supplies.
No one knows more about the value of shelter in India than a poor Bhil family fleeing relentless religious persecution in Pakistan. Such displaced families try to start their lives afresh here. But how does a family look forward to a better future if they can’t have access to even basic human needs?
To help them, the Sewa Nyaya Uththan Foundation (SNUF) provides building materials to construct homes and ration supplies.
Many Hindu families, especially from the Bhil tribe in Pakistan’s Sindh province, are leaving behind their livelihoods, homes, and land, seeking a better life in India through religious visas. These communities are economically weaker and highly vulnerable to attacks.
Recently, seven more such families crossed the border to settle in Jodhpur. SNUF assisted them in building houses and distributed ration supplies to welcome them.
He is Bhagat Amlakh Das Bhil. He came to India only six days ago from Pakistan after fleeing persecution
The first thing that all such refugees need is a home. We are glad we could be of help
Amalakha Ram, Ajit, Gulab, and other families arrived in Jodhpur a few days ago. After their arrival, they lived in makeshift shelters in the Gangana village. When SNUF heard about their condition, we wasted no time providing such families with the necessary supplies and shelter support.
Amlakh Ram, Gulab, Ajeet Lal are members of seven families who arrived in India this week from Pakistan
Sewa Nyaya Utthan Foundation by @swati_gs and @SanjeevSanskrit provided them with immediate supplies for building home in Jodhpur
All families were extremely happy to receive the supplies. The smiles on their faces were our reward. They put together a little singing and dancing programme for children to make this occasion more remarkable. All little performers showcased their traditional folk dances enthusiastically.
It was heart-warming for the SNUF team to realize that these families thought of us as members of their own families.
This newly arrived Pakistani Hindu refugee family in Jodhpur approached us @sewanyaya for help. We immediately accessed their needs and provided ration, water tank and material for building shelter
At Sewa Nyaya Uththan Foundation (SNUF), we often find that Hindu families escaping religious persecution in Pakistan are not expecting freebies and handouts from others in India. They are here to thrive in a much safer environment. They would much rather find employment or start their business than accept charity. SNUF team admires such values and does everything possible to support them.
New families from Pakistan keep coming regularly to the camp for Hindu families located in Delhi’s Majnu ka Tila area. We recently distributed rations and essential supplies among them. However, some individuals pointed out how they would prefer to sustain themselves by any means of employment instead of depending on others to support them.
Dhanraj Bagdi, who used to reside in Supari Park in Pakistan’s Karachi, moved to India with four other family members – wife, son, daughter, and a brother. His three brothers and parents are still in Pakistan. During the ration distribution, Dhanraj mentioned he would like to start working here if he received some support.
Another Hindu resettler, Prakash Bagdi, who used to sell mobile accessories, expressed similar ideas. His belongings were damaged due to the recent rains in Delhi.
SNUF came forward to help both of them. It was decided that Dhanraj would also sell mobile accessories. The next day, they were given mobile covers, tempered glass, pins, and other items purchased from the Karol Bagh market in Delhi.
They were happy to find employment and expressed gratitude to our team and founder, Swati Goel Sharma.
For Hindu Bhil families arriving from Pakistan, Jaisalmer’s scorching summer fetches a new atrocity – a lack of drinking water. After the Rajasthan administration demolished their old areas in May 2023, families struggled to find clean drinking water for their daily consumption. Sewa Nyaya Uththan Foundation (SNUF) stepped in to help these families overcome this challenge.
Background
Jaisalmer, a part of Rajasthan, is a refuge for displaced Hindu Bhil families. It is also known for its vast deserts and hot summers. In this city, many Bhil tribal families from across the border seek shelter.
Due to increasing violence against minority communities in Pakistan, all these families are returning to their original homeland, Bharat. Upon arrival, they have to start their lives from scratch. In doing so, they face many difficulties and challenges.
SNUF is committed to supporting these families and providing them with essential amenities like food, clothing, shelter, education, and healthcare facilities to help them begin anew.
The Demolition
In May 2023, the Jaisalmer district administration demolished housing structures belonging to the Bhil families in Amarsagar gram panchayat. The move was widely reported and criticised in the media. A week later, the government allotted 40 acres of land to these families in another area. However, this land lacked the most critical need for living – water.
Among these families, there were many young children aged between one month and fifteen years, and their numbers were significant. The water shortage was so acute that their bodies bore marks of burning due to the scorching heat.
SNUF intervention
When the SNUF team heard about their situation, they swung into action. We distributed 10 roof tanks – Six 1,000-liter and four 800-liter – to all these families.
The tanks have been of great help, especially to women who used to walk long distances to fetch water. After receiving this assistance from us, all the families, especially the women, were extremely happy and blessed the organization for their support.
