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Malaun
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Malaun (Bengali: মালাউন) is a derogatory Islamic religious term, derived from the Arabic "ملعون" (maleun), meaning "accursed" or "deprived of Allah's Mercy",[1][2][3] directed at Bengali Hindus and Indians,[4][5][6][7] who are often persecuted by Islamists and Razakar in Bangladesh and have been subjected to numerous genocides.[8][9][10]

Etymology

[edit]

The Arabic word "ملعون" (mal'un), literally meaning 'cursed' is derived from the root "لعنة" (la'nat) meaning "curse". In Islamic parlance, it means 'deprived of Allah's mercy'. The word has been loaned into languages of non-Arabic Islamic countries like Malay and Indonesian.[11][12] The dictionary published by the Bangla Academy gives the meaning of the Bengali word "মালাউন" as someone cursed or deprived of Allah's mercy or forcefully evicted or a Kafir.[13] It mentions that the word is used as a slur by the Muslims against the non-Muslims.[13]

Usage

[edit]

Nirmal Kumar Bose noted the usage of the term as early as 1946 in Noakhali.[14] During the 1971 Bangladesh Genocide, the Pakistani officers addressed Dr. Govinda Chandra Dev as malaun before executing him.[15] According to eyewitness, AKM Yusuf had addressed a gathering of Peace Committee at Rampal in Khulna district on 19 April. At the gathering he addressed the Hindus as malauns and the Hindu women as spoils of war and exhorted the audience to kill them and loot their women.[16] Hussain Muhammad Ershad, while serving as the President, had referred to the Hindus as malaun at a rally in Chhatak. He apologized for his remark after protests from the Hindus.[17]

In December 2013, Ganajagaran Mancha presented a deputation to the Home Ministry complaining about police torture. The deputation alleged that on 19 December 2013 the police abused a Hindu woman activist as malaun because she had put sindur.[18] In December 2014, Nasiruddin Pintu, a convicted BNP politician, abused a Bengali Hindu police officer by calling him a malaun when he attempted to stop his lawyers and supporters from meeting Pintu illegally. Pintu threatened the officer with loss of job and called him son of a pig.[19] In January 2015, Awami League workers Shahnawaz abused fellow Awami League worker Sushanta Dasgupta at a party function in London.[20]

In the Internet, a Jamaat-e-Islami run social media handle named Basher Kella has given the call for killing all the malauns and turning Bangladesh into a country where only the Muslims will live.[21][22][23]

See also

[edit]
Other pejorative terms for Hindus

References

[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Malaun

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from Grokipedia
Malaun (Bengali: মালাউন) is a ethnic slur derived from the Arabic term مَلْعُون (malʕūn), signifying "cursed" or "deprived of divine mercy," employed primarily by Islamist Muslims in to demean as infidels unworthy of compassion. The term's adoption into Bengali vernacular reflects the influence of religious lexicon on regional Islamic discourse, where it functions as a dehumanizing label akin to "," invoking theological condemnation to justify hostility. In contemporary usage, particularly in , "malaun" targets as a tool of targeted religious persecution and sociopolitical othering, legitimizing their displacement and posing an existential threat amid one-sided power imbalances that reflect historical continuity of oppression against the Hindu minority in Muslim-majority areas. It often appears in extremist rhetoric that incites violence or expulsion, as evidenced by campaigns like "#TMD" (Total Malaun Death) during periods of political instability; the term is widely reported in coverage of anti-Hindu violence and intimidation, and frequently cited by Hindu minority victims in accounts of threats and attacks. This slur underscores patterns of , where —comprising a dwindling minority—face property seizures, forced conversions, and mob attacks, with the term amplifying calls for their eradication from Muslim-majority areas. Its persistence highlights causal links between Islamist ideologies and minority , often underreported in Western academia and media due to selective framing that prioritizes narratives sympathetic to prevailing power structures in the region.

Etymology

Linguistic Origins

The term malaun derives from the malʿūn (ملعون), denoting one who is "accursed" or deprived of , formed as the passive of the laʿana (لَعَنَ), "to ." This stems from the Semitic trilateral root L-ʿ-N (ل-ع-ن), which conveys the invocation of malediction or expulsion from 's favor, a central to lexicon. The root L-ʿ-N recurs over 70 times in the , typically in divine declarations of cursing against those exhibiting disbelief or moral deviation, as in Al-Baqarah 2:88 ("rather, Allah has cursed them for their disbelief," bal laʿanahumullāhu bi-kufrihim). Such instances, including Al-A'raf 7:179's depiction of beings prepared for through unheeding faculties, underscore the root's association with existential rejection by , providing the scriptural basis for the term's connotation. Upon transmission through Persian into South Asian vernaculars, the term adapted for everyday use to label non-Muslims as religiously accursed, including Bengali Hindus. Transmission to South Asia occurred via Persian, the intermediary lingua franca of Islamic governance from the 11th century onward, which absorbed numerous Arabic religious terms before influencing Urdu's formation as a Perso-Arabic hybrid during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal eras (circa 1206–1857). This pathway enabled the root's phonological and semantic adaptation into Indo-Aryan contexts without immediate vernacular mutation.

Adaptation in Bengali

The Arabic theological term malʿūn (ملعون), denoting one deprived of God's or under divine curse, underwent phonetic adaptation in Bengali as malaun (মালাউন), with the pharyngeal ʿayn (/ʕ/) elided—a common for Arabic loanwords lacking equivalents in Bengali's consonant inventory, which favors and lacks pharyngeals. This rendering aligns with Bengali orthographic conventions, producing a pronunciation roughly /mɑloŋ/ or /mɑlɑun/, influenced by regional and tendencies in Eastern Indo-Aryan vernaculars. Semantically, the term's integration into Bengali Muslim vernacular diverged from its neutral Quranic usage—applied broadly to disbelievers or sinners—toward a localized exclusively targeting , reflecting contextual reinforcement through religious discourse in the region rather than inherent connotations. This shift exemplifies how loanwords acquire ethnic specificity in South Asian Islamic idiolects, embedding theological disdain within communal unique to Bengal's bilingual religious environment. Documented vernacular employment traces to mid-20th-century Bengali contexts, underscoring its relatively recent vernacular entrenchment despite deeper Arabic roots.

Historical Context

Introduction in Bengal

The advent of in , initiated by Turkic military incursions in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, introduced Arabic-derived religious terminology that shaped communal identities. Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilji's campaigns culminated in the conquest of key centers like Lakhnauti (modern ) around 1204 CE, toppling the Hindu and establishing Muslim political authority over eastern . This era embedded terms like malʿūn—an word signifying one "accursed" or deprived of , often applied in Islamic contexts to disbelievers or those outside the —within the lexicon of incoming Muslim elites and proselytizers targeting the Hindu majority. Under early Muslim governance, including the Delhi Sultanate's oversight and later the independent from 1342 to 1576 CE, such terminology permeated Persian administrative records and oral traditions among Muslim settlers. The , composed by Minhaj-i-Siraj Juzjani—who served as a in Bengal during the 1240s—employs "Al-Mal'un" (the Execrated) in historical narration, illustrating the term's presence in chronicles documenting religious and political hierarchies. These invasions and subsequent rule prioritized conversion through Sufi networks and fiscal incentives like land grants, wherein Arabic-Persian phrases denoting religious inferiority reinforced efforts to differentiate Muslim from non-Muslim subjects. This linguistic importation contributed causally to nascent communal frictions by framing non-Muslims as theologically cursed, justifying differential treatment such as occasional temple appropriations or exemptions that still marked second-class status, even as syncretic accommodations occurred. During Afghan and pre-Mughal phases up to the , the term's adaptation into local dialects paralleled broader patterns of Islamic expansion, where verbal demarcations aided in consolidating Muslim identity amid a Hindu demographic majority estimated at over 90% initially. Mughal consolidation from 1576 onward further entrenched these dynamics through Persianate court culture, though direct Bengali textual attestations remain sparse in surviving medieval sources.

Usage During Partition and Aftermath

The term malaun escalated in usage during the 1947 , amid widespread communal riots and mass migrations in , where it was employed by Muslim mobs against as a derogatory label implying divine curse and infidelity. Following the creation of , the slur featured prominently in anti-Hindu rhetoric, reinforcing perceptions of as outsiders or threats to Muslim dominance, which contributed to demographic shifts as millions of fled to between 1947 and 1951. This period saw an estimated 2.5 to 4 million migrate from due to violence and insecurity, with malaun invoked to dehumanize targets during pogroms. In the 1950s and 1960s, malaun played a role in communal clashes, such as the triggered by disputes over religious sites, leading to thousands of Hindu deaths and further exodus. The 1964 riots, sparked by alleged desecration in , resulted in widespread attacks on across , including massacres in and , where the slur was used by instigators to mobilize crowds against "infidel" communities, exacerbating the Hindu population decline from 22% in 1951 to 18.5% by 1961. Historical accounts document how such framed as enemies, justifying , , and forced conversions during these episodes. Despite the secular orientation of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's policies post-1971 independence, which emphasized in the 1972 constitution, malaun persisted in Islamist and folk rhetoric, contrasting with official efforts to downplay religious divisions. This endurance reflected underlying tensions between state secularism and grassroots religious identities, as the term continued to surface in anti-Hindu sentiments even under Mujib's rule until his 1975 assassination, amid ongoing minority insecurities.

Modern Usage

In Bangladesh

In contemporary Bangladesh, the term malaun functions as a routine synonym for "Hindu" in colloquial speech among Muslim majorities, particularly in rural locales and madrasa-dominated regions where Islamist educational influences predominate. This normalization manifests in spontaneous derogatory usage to assert dominance, with reports indicating Hindus are habitually labeled malaun even in professional settings like offices to instill and reinforce religious . Such patterns stem from entrenched Islamist ideologies that frame Hindus as inherently accursed, fostering an environment where the slur embeds casual into daily interactions. Islamist political entities, notably , have weaponized malaun in rhetoric to erode the legitimacy of Hindu minorities, depicting them as existential threats or collaborators with external powers during election cycles and mobilization drives. In the , amid heightened communal polarization, fundamentalist discourse—including from Jamaat-aligned platforms—routinely invoked the term to justify exclusionary policies and incite voter bases against perceived Hindu influence in politics and land disputes. documentation from this era highlights how such language amplified attacks on Hindu properties and leaders, linking verbal to tangible . Post-1975, following the military coups that pivoted toward Islamization under leaders like , malaun resurfaced prominently in Islamist cultural outputs, including propagandistic literature and oral traditions that echoed anti-Hindu sentiments. This revival aligned with the rehabilitation of groups like , whose narratives in pamphlets and speeches recast Hindus as obstacles to an , embedding the slur in revived curricula and community sermons. Eyewitness accounts and analyses trace this shift to the erosion of secular norms, enabling the term's permeation into semi-official discourse and folk expressions that glorified Muslim supremacy.

In India

In West Bengal, the term malaun is infrequently employed domestically due to the Hindu majority (roughly 70% of the population per the 2011 ) and legal protections under 's secular constitution, which constrain overt sectarian rhetoric among the Muslim minority. Unlike in , where demographic dominance enables broader usage, instances in India are largely confined to spillover from cross-border influences, such as among Bangladeshi migrant communities in border districts like or Malda. Bangladeshi Hindu refugees resettling in have recurrently reported the slur's prevalence in as a driver of displacement, with waves including those in the amid reported communal unrest under BNP governance. These testimonies, documented in migration studies, underscore cross-border disparities, as the term rarely surfaces in Kolkata's diverse urban enclaves—home to integrated Hindu-Muslim neighborhoods like —where multicultural interactions and state oversight promote restraint. Indian publications have referenced such refugee accounts to condemn Bangladeshi persecution, portraying malaun as emblematic of majority-minority imbalances absent in India's inverted demographics.

Religious and Theological Foundations

Basis in Islamic Texts

In Islamic theology, the concept underlying "malaun" derives from the Arabic root l-ʿ-n (لعن), denoting a divine that expels individuals from 's due to persistent disbelief or rejection of . This scriptural framework portrays disbelievers (kuffār) as inherently accursed by Allah, marking a causal separation from divine favor as a consequence of kufr (unbelief). The repeatedly affirms this divine cursing of disbelievers. Al-Baqarah (2:161) states: "Indeed, those who disbelieve and die while they are disbelievers—upon them will be the curse of and of the angels and the people, all together." This verse establishes an eternal curse encompassing , celestial beings, and humanity, triggered by dying in a state of unbelief without . Similarly, Al-Ahzab (33:64) declares: "Indeed, has cursed the disbelievers and prepared for them a Blaze," linking the curse directly to eschatological punishment for rejecting . Al-Baqarah (2:88) further illustrates: "And they say, 'Our hearts are wrapped.' But, [in fact], has cursed them for their disbelief, so little is it that they believe," attributing the curse to willful concealment of truth. Surah At-Tawbah (9:113) reinforces this by prohibiting intercession or prayer for polytheists: "It is not for the Prophet and those who have believed to ask for the polytheists, even if they were relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are companions of the Hellfire." This injunction implies their fixed status under , as is withheld post-disclosure of kufr, barring any salvific appeal. Such verses form the doctrinal core, where cursing signifies not mere disapproval but metaphysical exclusion from , contingent on unrepented rejection of prophetic . Authentic Hadith collections (Sahih Bukhari and Muslim) record instances of the Prophet Muhammad invoking curses on specific rejectors of , exemplifying application of Quranic principles to those actively opposing the faith. For example, narrations describe the Prophet cursing tribes or individuals for persistent unbelief and hostility, such as during the Meccan persecution where he prayed against leaders refusing to accept despite evidence. These prophetic invocations align with the Quran's framework, treating curses as warranted responses to kufr that obstructs divine guidance, distinct from insults by emphasizing theological condemnation over personal grievance. This scriptural cursing doctrine underscores takfīr-like implications of divine rejection, where unbelievers are doctrinally severed from the ummah's salvific bounds unless they embrace .

Theological Interpretations Among Muslims

Orthodox Islamic scholars, particularly those aligned with Salafi and Wahhabi traditions, interpret "mala'un" (from mal'ūn, meaning "cursed" or "bereft of ") as directly applicable to disbelievers (kuffār) who reject , viewing it as a descriptor of their spiritual state under divine decree. This stance holds that non-Muslims persist in a cursed condition until and conversion, as affirmed in theological rulings emphasizing Allah's on unbelievers. In , Deobandi scholars, whose madrasas educate a significant portion of , echo this by incorporating the term's connotation of divine reprobation in discourses on non-Muslim inferiority, without issuing fatwas restricting its use to specific contexts. Reformist interpretations among some moderate ulema, including isolated voices in , posit that "mala'un" should be confined to historical adversaries of , such as polytheistic oppressors in , rather than extended indiscriminately to contemporary non-Muslims. However, such contextual limitations remain empirically uncommon, with few documented fatwas or scholarly treatises from Bangladeshi Islamic bodies endorsing this restraint, amid dominant orthodox applications. These theological framings, rooted in the term's derivation from Quranic descriptors of cursed unbelief rather than mere cultural idiom, causally underpin by portraying non-Muslims as inherently accursed, thereby rationalizing or hostility beyond secular dynamics. Mainstream academic sources, often influenced by institutional biases favoring irenic narratives, underemphasize this religious etiology in favor of sociolinguistic explanations, yet primary theological texts and fatwas substantiate the doctrinal foundation.

Controversies and Criticisms

Dehumanization and Slur Dynamics

The term malaun, derived from the malʿūn (meaning "accursed" or "deprived of God's mercy"), operates as an ethnic-religious slur primarily targeting , imputing a theological that positions them as inherently damned outsiders unworthy of or equal treatment. This mechanism of othering aligns with sociological analyses of slurs in intergroup conflicts, where derogatory labels reduce targeted groups to subhuman or morally inferior status, thereby lowering psychological barriers to and . In contexts of ethnic tension, such terms reinforce in-group while normalizing exclusionary behaviors, as evidenced by research on how slurs propagate stigma and enable without overt physical confrontation. Psychological studies on ethnic slurs demonstrate their role in facilitating by evoking visceral or moral revulsion toward the labeled group, akin to how malaun invokes divine rejection to delegitimize Hindu identity. For instance, repeated exposure to such correlates with heightened intergroup anxiety and endorsement of discriminatory policies among perpetrators, drawing parallels to slurs in other conflict zones where verbal precedes broader . Localized to Bengali Muslim-Hindu dynamics, malaun differs from broader Islamic slurs like kāfir (unbeliever) by its specific connotation of cursed impurity tied to Hindu practices, yet shares the function of theological exclusion; hate speech analyses indicate kāfir-like terms amplify bias in South Asian settings by framing non-Muslims as existentially opposed to divine order. Some Muslim apologists contend that malaun lacks inherent offensiveness, viewing it as a neutral theological descriptor akin to scriptural references to unbelievers rather than a deliberate slur intended to harm. This perspective, often rooted in interpretive defenses of Arabic-derived terms, posits that perceived injury stems from cultural rather than the word's semantics. However, testimonies from Hindu victims consistently report profound emotional distress, describing the slur as a tool of ritualized that erodes self-worth and fosters internalized inferiority, countering claims with firsthand accounts of its isolating impact in daily interactions. Such evidence underscores the slur's performative power, where overlooks the cumulative psychological toll documented in research.

Association with Violence and Persecution

The term malaun has frequently served as an incitement tool in against in , functioning as a dehumanizing slur that rallies perpetrators by portraying victims as cursed outsiders deserving of attack. Historical patterns of its use trace back to post-Partition tensions, with the invoked during riots and pogroms to precede assaults, homes burnings, and killings, as documented in accounts of minority where it equates with infidels warranting punishment. During the 1960s and 1970s in (pre-1971 ), the slur contributed to an environment enabling targeted pogroms, such as the 1964 riots triggered by the Hazratbal incident, where anti-Hindu mobs looted and destroyed properties amid widespread use of derogatory language framing as enemies. The Enemy Property Act of 1965, enacted by and retained post-independence as the Vested Property Act, institutionalized this hostility by classifying Hindu-owned lands as "enemy" assets for seizure, often without , affecting millions of acres and displacing families under pretexts aligning with the term's theological condemnation. Critics, including human rights monitors, have highlighted state complicity in the 1970s and 1980s under military regimes like that of and Hossain Mohammad Ershad, where Islamist elements gained influence, enabling land grabs and failing to curb violence fueled by slurs like malaun during election-related clashes and rural attacks. Coalitions involving the (BNP) and in later periods amplified these dynamics, with reports noting official tolerance or participation in property seizures and assaults that echoed the Act's discriminatory framework. Such rhetoric and policies have driven patterns of documented by organizations like Minority Rights Group International, correlating the slur's normalization with forced migrations and a decline in the Hindu population from approximately 22% in 1951 to under 8% by the 2010s, as families fled repeated threats and expropriations.

Recent Developments

Surge Post-2024 Bangladesh Uprising

Following Sheikh Hasina's resignation on August 5, 2024, amid student-led protests that escalated into nationwide unrest, the slur "malaun" surged in public rhetoric during mob attacks on Hindu communities, often invoked by assailants to dehumanize victims perceived as Awami League supporters. Reports documented over 200 incidents of violence against Hindus between August 4 and 10, 2024 alone, including arson on temples and homes in districts like Dinajpur and Sunamganj, where crowds chanted slurs including "malaun" while looting and assaulting residents. This resurgence aligned with Islamist elements capitalizing on the power vacuum, as interim authorities under struggled to curb retaliatory vigilantism that blurred into communal targeting. Eyewitness accounts from events like the August 2024 Hajari Goli clashes described attackers repeatedly shouting "malaun" during beatings and property destruction, framing as "enemies of the revolution." The interim government registered at least 88 cases by October 22, 2024, many involving minority sites vandalized under similar rhetoric, though enforcement lagged amid institutional disarray. The Awami League's fall eroded prior secular safeguards, such as Hasina-era crackdowns on groups, allowing overt Islamist to amplify the term's deployment in street-level agitation. This shift enabled unchecked in the ensuing instability, with documented temple attacks—over 69 reported by mid-August—frequently accompanied by slurs equating with or political betrayal. While some claims of widespread were later scrutinized for exaggeration, the immediate post-uprising surge in "malaun"-laden violence underscored a tangible decline in minority protections.

Social Media and Extremist Rhetoric

Following the ouster of Prime Minister in August 2024, the hashtag #TMD, acronym for "Total Malaun Death," emerged on platforms including and X (formerly Twitter) as an explicit call for the elimination of , whom the slur "malaun" derogatorily references as cursed infidels. By late November 2024, the trend had amassed over 200,000 posts on alone, often featuring images of overlaid with the TMD slogan to incite collective action against the minority. Anonymous accounts and self-identified Islamist influencers amplified the rhetoric's virality, posting unverified screenshots of alleged Hindu "provocations" alongside TMD endorsements to frame the slur as a rallying cry for purification. Monitoring by groups tracking online extremism documented spikes in engagement, with posts garnering thousands of shares and comments endorsing , though platforms' algorithms appeared to boost visibility without immediate intervention. The trend extended beyond to global diaspora networks on X, where expatriate users reposted content linking TMD to broader anti-Hindu narratives, evading geo-restrictions and reaching audiences in and Western countries. Despite reports to moderators, many TMD posts persisted into December 2024, highlighting gaps in content enforcement amid surging volumes post-uprising.

Societal Impact

On Hindu-Muslim Relations

The deployment of the term "Malaun" in Muslim-majority contexts, particularly , exacerbates relational strains between and by embedding supremacist attitudes that portray as inherently inferior or cursed, thereby undermining mutual trust and communal cohesion. Empirical data from minority advocacy groups document thousands of incidents of violence against , often accompanied by slurs like "Malaun," which correlate with eroded interpersonal relations in mixed communities. For instance, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council recorded 258 attacks on minority religious sites and individuals in the first half of 2025 alone, reflecting persistent disharmony metrics that hinder everyday integration and . Similarly, between 2008 and 2021, over 4,000 repression incidents targeted religious minorities, predominantly , signaling a pattern of antagonism that surveys of affected communities describe as fostering widespread fear and avoidance of interfaith interactions. Surveys across reveal low baseline trust levels, with the term's dehumanizing rhetoric amplifying perceptions of otherness and impeding . In , a 2021 Pew Research Center study found that 66% of and 64% of view their groups as "very different," with substantial majorities favoring residential segregation to preserve , a dynamic that slurs like "Malaun" intensify by normalizing exclusionary attitudes among users. Field experiments on trust games in further indicate that religious minority status correlates with cautious intergroup behavior, where derogatory language reinforces zero-sum perceptions and reduces willingness to engage economically or socially. In , where comprise less than 8% of the , qualitative reports from minority surveys highlight how such supremacist lexicon perpetuates parallel social structures, with reporting heightened isolation in shared locales due to anticipated . Left-leaning outlets and fact-checkers have often characterized anti-Hindu rhetoric, including "Malaun," as fringe or exaggerated, attributing reported tensions to political rather than endemic attitudes. However, data from independent minority monitoring refutes this, with over 2,400 communal violence episodes logged in a single year through mid-2025, many involving targeted slurs that indicate broader societal endorsement beyond isolated extremists. This discrepancy underscores issues, as advocacy-aligned reporting from affected communities provides more granular evidence of relational decay than generalized dismissals. Over time, the causal reinforcement of supremacist views via terms like "Malaun" fosters increased segregation and the formation of parallel societies in mixed areas, as groups retreat to homogeneous enclaves to mitigate risks of . Pew data shows that in , where similar intergroup dynamics prevail, a plurality supports barring interreligious marriages and neighborly mixing, outcomes that mirror Bangladesh's observed clustering of minorities amid ongoing antagonism. Such patterns, driven by linguistic , yield measurable declines in communal indicators, including reduced cross-faith business ties and public participation, perpetuating cycles of mistrust across generations. Hindu advocacy groups in , including the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, have publicly condemned the routine use of "malaun" as a slur that fosters and justifies violence against minorities, urging authorities to curb its normalization in political and social discourse. This rhetoric, often employed by Islamist leaders during elections and unrest, has been linked to heightened insecurity, prompting community calls for legal prohibitions and media accountability to mitigate its role in escalating communal tensions. The slur's prevalence correlates with accelerated Hindu emigration, contributing to a stark demographic shift: Hindus constituted 22% of Bangladesh's population in the 1951 census but dwindled to 7.95% by the 2022 census, reflecting a net loss of approximately 7.5 million individuals over five decades primarily through out-migration rather than differential birth rates. Post-1971 independence, annual Hindu migration rates averaged 438-705 persons daily during peak instability periods, driven by targeted attacks on homes, businesses, and temples that slurs like "malaun" help normalize. By 2024, an estimated 1.6 million Bangladesh-born Hindus resided abroad, mostly in India, underscoring the causal link between endemic insecurity and flight. In response to this exodus, India's Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) of 2019 offers fast-tracked citizenship to persecuted from who entered before December 31, 2014, providing a relocation mechanism that has processed applications from thousands fleeing , though implementation faced delays until March 2024 rules. Proponents argue it addresses verifiable absent in , enabling economic reintegration without uprooting entire histories, yet critics within Hindu communities highlight relocation's downsides, including loss of ancestral lands and cultural ties, versus the perils of in-situ resistance amid unchecked slurs and pogroms. Minority leaders have increasingly demanded international intervention, with Indian officials and organizations like the pressing the for probes into Hindu persecution, citing failures in local enforcement as evidence of state complicity or incapacity. Such appeals emphasize empirical data on spikes—over 2,000 incidents post-2024 uprising—tied to dehumanizing language, advocating sanctions or monitoring to bolster resistance options without mandating mass departure.

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  65. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333462974_Hindu_Population_Growth_in_Bangladesh_A_Demographic_Puzzle
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  70. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/rss-calls-for-global-action-against-hindu-persecution-in-bangladesh/articleshow/119350453.cms
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  72. https://arisebharat.com/2024/08/13/escalating-genocide-against-hindus-in-bangladesh-cihs-report-calls-for-urgent-international-intervention/
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