Hindu minor boy denied haircut by Muslim barber because of his religious identity

Case ID : f664798 | Location : Matiari, Sindh, Pakistan | Date of Incident : Wed, 26 February, 2025

Case ID : f664798

Matiari, Sindh, Pakistan

26 February, 2025

Hindu minor boy denied haircut by Muslim barber because of his religious identity

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Hate speech against Hindus

Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith

Case Summary

In Matiari, Sindh, Pakistan, a minor Hindu boy was denied a haircut by a Muslim barber solely due to his religion. The barber openly expressed his bigotry, stating, "Hindus are not humans; I won't cut their filthy hair." A video circulating on social media captured the barber making these discriminatory remarks. When confronted by a man recording the video, who asked whether the Hindu boy was not a human being, the barber reaffirmed his prejudice, saying, "Yes! Hindus are not humans. I will not cut their filthy hair." This incident highlights the plight of Hindus in Pakistan, who endure relentless persecution and face systemic discrimination, violence, and forced conversions. Hindu women and young girls are frequently abducted, forcibly converted to Islam, and married off to Muslim men, often with no legal recourse. Temples are routinely vandalised or destroyed, and Hindu communities suffer from severe social and economic marginalisation. Blasphemy laws are disproportionately weaponised against Hindus, leading to false accusations and harsh punishments. Many Hindu families are forced to flee their homes due to rising religious intolerance, living in constant fear of attacks. This ongoing oppression underscores the grim reality for Hindus in Pakistan, where their religious identity makes them frequent targets of hate and violence.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under two prime categories. The first is- Attack not resulting in death, and within this, the sub-category selected is- Attacked for Hindu identity. In several cases, Hindus are attacked merely for their Hindu identity without any perceived provocation. A classic example of this category of religiously motivated hate crime is a murder in 2016. 7 ISIS terrorists were convicted for shooting a school principal in Kanpur because they got ‘triggered’ seeing the Kalava on his wrist and tilak that he had put. In this, the Hindu victim had offered no provocation except for his Hindu religious identity. The motivation for the murder was purely religious, driven by religious supremacy. Such cases where Hindus are targeted merely for their religious identity would be documented as a hate crime under this category. The second category under which this case has been placed is- Hate speech against Hindus, and the sub-category selected within it is- Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith. Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. This case is a blatant example of a religiously motivated hate crime, as the Hindu minor was subjected to discrimination and dehumanisation purely because of his religious identity. The Muslim barber blatantly refused to provide service to the Hindu boy, only because he was a Hindu. This refusal was accompanied by hateful rhetoric, where he declared, "Hindus are not humans; I won’t cut their filthy hair." This statement goes beyond personal prejudice and reflects a deeply ingrained hostility towards Hindus. Basically, the Hindu boy was not attacked for personal reasons but solely because of his religious background. The verbal abuse and denial of service stem from deep-seated anti-Hindu sentiment, making this a clear case of religiously motivated hate. Given the hostile environment for Hindus in Pakistan, where such discrimination is institutionalised and often ignored, documenting this case in the Hinduphobia tracker is crucial in exposing and addressing the ongoing persecution of Hindus.