Culture
Report Highlights Prevalence Of Anti-Hindu Hate In UK Schools — Students Face Religious Bullying, Pressure To Convert
In UK schools, several incidents of bullying have been reported by parents, including throwing beef at Hindu students and making derogatory comments about their religion.
A report from the Henry Jackson Society has uncovered the prevalence of anti-Hindu hate in schools in the United Kingdom (UK), the first-ever study of its kind in the country.
In a startling finding, 51 per cent of parents surveyed said that their children had encountered anti-Hindu hate in schools, while five years prior, less than 1 per cent of schools with Indian students had reported such incidents after a freedom of information query.
According to the report, teaching about Hinduism in schools may lead to discrimination against Hindu students, as just 15 per cent of parents feel that schools effectively handle anti-Hindu incidents, and 19 per cent believe that such incidents can even be identified.
The study emphasises a need for religious education to be more inclusive and not solely grounded in Abrahamic beliefs.
Several incidents of bullying have been reported by parents, including throwing beef at Hindu students and making derogatory comments about their religion.
Pupils have been asked to convert and watch videos of controversial preacher Zakir Naik. These incidents have caused distress among the affected students.
Religious superiority is also prevalent among students with comments directed towards Hinduism, such as "Jesus will send your Gods to hell" and “Hindus are the herbivores at the bottom of the food chain, we will eat you up. If you want to go to paradise, you’ll have to come to Islam."
Bullying of children is said to have risen after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rise in India and the revocation of Article 370.
Further, British schools may be overlooking bullying and exclusion of children from other religious minorities, as stated in the report.
Urgent study is needed to examine the school experience of the UK's religious minority students, according to the report.
The report suggests that new reporting standards be established to address anti-Hindu hate and that schools adopt a more proactive stance in preventing such incidents.
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