UN Report Recognizes Hindus as Indigenous Peoples, Highlights Colonial Legacy and Rights Violations

The United Nations has published KAILASA's 28th report as part of contributions to the 60th session of the UN Human Rights Council, marking a significant recognition of Hindus as indigenous peoples and highlighting their historic struggles against colonial legacies. This comprehensive submission emphasizes that followers of Sanatana Dharma are the native inheritors of the Vedic civilizational tradition across 56 indigenous Hindu nations spanning over 6 million km², establishing their indigenous status within international human rights frameworks.

The report makes critical distinctions between Hindu traditions and other major religions, noting that unlike Christianity and Islam which entered the region through conquest and external imposition, Hindu traditions have thrived for millennia as indigenous systems. Colonial powers systematically disrupted this identity by artificially constructing divisive labels such as caste and tribe to control populations, according to the document available at https://kailaasa.org/briefings-statements/united-nations-reports/un-publishes-kailasas-28th-report-recognizing-hindu-indigeneity-and-uan/. Beyond physical colonization, the report argues that European coloniality entrenched Eurocentric frameworks that delegitimized indigenous systems of law, governance, and knowledge, creating lasting structural inequalities.

A significant aspect of the report examines what it terms neo-Hindutva as a colonial construct, pointing to British-supported ideologies like that of V.D. Savarkar in fragmenting Hindu society and aiding colonial divide-and-rule policies. Under the leadership of The Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism Bhagavan Nithyananda Paramashivam, recognized as the Sovereign of 21 ancient Hindu kingdoms, KAILASA has revived the continuity of indigenous Hindu statehood. Operating as a government-in-exile, it represents the assertion of decoloniality and the restoration of Hindu Swaraj or self-governance, providing a model for indigenous sovereignty movements worldwide.

The report documents systemic human rights violations against The SPH and KAILASA, including deep state-sponsored violence, unlawful persecution, suppression of Hindu religious freedom, and illegal detention and torture of SPH and KAILASA members. Through the United Ancient Nations, KAILASA has united over 160 indigenous nations and communities worldwide, advancing the shared struggle for sovereignty, cultural survival, and recognition. This coalition building represents a significant development in global indigenous rights movements, creating solidarity across diverse cultural traditions.

The United Nations and international community are urged to recognize Hindus as indigenous peoples under UNDRIP, investigate systemic persecution of Hindu indigenous communities, hold deep state and non-state actors accountable for violations of religious and cultural sovereignty, and support decolonial movements worldwide that seek to restore indigenous self-determination. The struggle of KAILASA represents the universal fight of indigenous peoples against colonial legacies that persist today, with protecting the rights of Hindus and all indigenous communities identified as critical for global justice, peace, and cultural continuity. This recognition has profound implications for how international bodies address religious freedom and indigenous rights in post-colonial contexts.