Persecution

Not only theorists of secularization (who presume a decline of religiosity in general) would willingly assume that religious persecution is a thing of the past[citation needed].

Sumpa based his account on that of Śākyaśribhadra who was at Magadha in 1200, states that the Buddhist university complexes of Odantapuri and Vikramshila were also destroyed and the monks were massacred.

[17] Tibetan pilgrim Chöjepal (1179-1264), who arrived in India in 1234,[18] had to flee advancing Muslim troops multiple times, as they were sacking Buddhist sites.

[19] In Japan, the haibutsu kishaku during the Meiji Restoration (starting in 1868) was an event which was triggered by the official policy of separation of Shinto and Buddhism (or shinbutsu bunri).

Throughout the history of Jehovah's Witnesses, their beliefs, doctrines and practices have engendered controversy and opposition from local governments, communities, and mainstream Christian groups.

[a] Copts have cited instances of persecution throughout their history and Human Rights Watch has noted "growing religious intolerance" and sectarian violence against Coptic Christians in recent years, as well as a failure by the Egyptian government to effectively investigate properly and prosecute those responsible.

Such jihads caused the Dogon to abandon their original villages and moved up to the cliffs of Bandiagara for better defense and to escape persecution—often building their dwellings in little nooks and crannies.

In the wake of the Ogossagou massacre, the President of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta and his government ordered the dissolution of Dan Na Ambassagou—whom they hold partly responsible for the attacks.

[63] The Druze have frequently experienced persecution by different Muslim regimes such as the Shia Fatimid Caliphate,[64] Mamluk,[65] Sunni Ottoman Empire,[66] and Egypt Eyalet.

Following the seven years of widespread popularity, on July 20, 1999, the government of the People's Republic of China began a nationwide persecution campaign against Falun Gong practitioners, except in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.

[80] Amnesty International states that the persecution is "politically motivated" with "legislation being used retroactively to convict people on politically-driven charges, and new regulations introduced to further restrict fundamental freedoms".

An article in Time magazine dated 2 August 1971, stated "The Hindus, who account for three-fourths of the refugees and a majority of the dead, have borne the brunt of the Muslim military hatred.

In a syndicated column "The Pakistani Slaughter That Nixon Ignored", Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Sydney Schanberg wrote about his return to liberated Bangladesh in 1972.

The destruction and conversion of pagan temples into churches, mosques, or other structures were common practices during the Christianization of the Roman Empire and later the Spread of Islam in Middle East and North Africa.

During the Age of Discovery, Many Europeans consider aspects of Native American, African Tribes, Polynesian, and Aboriginal Australian religion as pagans, which attributed to their genocide and forced conversions.

The largest modern Pagan communities are in North America and the United Kingdom, and the issue of discrimination receives most attention in those locations.

The community of Pagans and Wiccans continues to face Christian persecution, particularly in the United States, where they are frequently subjected to negative stereotypes and misconceptions, such as those perpetuated during the Satanic Panic.

Religious and ethnic persecution of the Serer people dates back to the 11th century when King War Jabi usurped the throne of Tekrur (part of present-day Senegal) in 1030, and by 1035, introduced Sharia law and forced his subjects to submit to Islam.

[111] In June 1984, during Operation Blue Star, Indira Gandhi ordered the Indian Army to attack the Golden Temple and eliminate any insurgents, as it had been occupied by Sikh separatists who were stockpiling weapons.

[116] Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as Prime Minister after his mother's death and, when asked about the riots, said "when a big tree falls, the earth shakes" thus trying to justify the communal strife.

The Asian Age front-page story called the government actions "the Mother of all Cover-ups"[118][119] There are allegations that the violence was led and often perpetrated by Indian National Congress activists and sympathisers during the riots.

[120] The chief weapon used by the mobs, kerosene, was supplied by a group of Indian National Congress Party leaders who owned filling stations.

Due to the increasing contacts with influential Parsi philanthropists such as Maneckji Limji Hataria, many Zoroastrians left Iran for India.

The Japanese occupation of China caused the death of millions of people, mostly peasants who were murdered after the Doolittle Raid in early-World War II.

The Porajmos was the planned and attempted effort, often described as a genocide, during World War II by the government of Nazi Germany and its allies to exterminate the Romani (Gypsy) people of Europe.

Under the rule of Adolf Hitler, a supplementary decree to the Nuremberg Laws was issued on 26 November 1935, defining Gypsies as "enemies of the race-based state", the same category as Jews.

[138] The UN human rights chief slammed Myanmar's apparent "systematic attack" on the Rohingya minority, warning that "ethnic cleansing" seemed to be underway.

“Rohingya refugees have harrowing accounts of fleeing Burmese army attacks and watching their villages be destroyed,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director.

[145][146] Persecution on the basis of albinism is frequently based on the belief that albinos are inferior to persons with higher concentration of melanin in their skin.

Haiti also has a long history of treating albinistic people as accursed, with the highest incidence under the influence of François "Papa Doc" Duvalier.