Hindu children being converted to Islam, forced to offer Namaz in Madrasas
Kota, Rajasthan, India 
2 August, 2024
Case Summary
In February 2024, allegations surfaced that religious conversions were being carried out in various madarsas and government schools in Rajasthan's Kota district. Dalit-Hindu children were reportedly being admitted to madrasas and converted to Islam. A Hindu Dalit girl was converted and her name was changed to Shakeena in a madrasa in the Anantpura area of Kota. Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) stated that the male children might have also been circumcised as part of the conversion process. Bajrang Dal and VHP submitted a memorandum to the Kota divisional commissioner, demanding an investigation into all madrasas in the region. The organizations also urged the State Education Minister, Madan Dilawar, to order an immediate investigation into these institutions. Likewise, Sarva Hindu Samaj also submitted a memorandum to Madan Dilawar in which it stated that three Muslim teachers at the Government Senior Secondary School in Khajuri Odpur village of Sangod block were forcing the students to convert and had linked with the banned terror outfits. The Hindu organisation added that the students were being coerced into observing Islamic rituals in the school. The Sarva Hindu Samaj further alleged that a Hindu girl, named as a Muslim in the school’s records in 2019, was kidnapped by some Muslim students earlier this year and was still untraceable. A case was registered in this connection at Sangod police station, but no action had been taken. The gravity of the situation prompted Madan Dilawar to issue a public statement condemning the conversions and promising to prevent government schools from becoming "dens of conversion." In a video message, he said that the facts about religious conversion and Hindu girls being forced to offer namaz (Islamic prayer) had been brought to his notice. In response to the growing outcry, two teachers, Firoze Khan and Mirza Mujahid, were suspended, and disciplinary actions were initiated against a third teacher, Shabana, by the Chief District Education Officer.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the hate tracker under the prime category- Predatory Proselytisation. Further, as per case details, two sub-categories have been selected under the abovementioned prime category. The first is- Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion- Harassment covers a wide range of behaviours of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, including threats and coercion. Harassment and threats, in this case, find their root on discriminatory grounds which has the effect of nullifying a person’s rights or infringing upon his freedom to exercise his right specifically owing to the victim’s religious identity. Verbal and physical threats and psychological or physical harassment are often used against Hindu victims because they choose to practice their professed religion. Religious harassment also includes forced and involuntary conversions by harassment, threats or coercion. Coercion includes intimidatory tactics like force-feeding a Hindu victim beef to convert to another religion, forceful circumcision etc. In several cases documented, non-Hindu perpetrators or those who harbour specific animosity towards Hinduism, harass victims simply based on their religious identity. Such cases often also include harassment to ensure the Hindu victim abandons his/her professed religion and adopts the religion of the perpetrator. In this subcategory, we would only include cases where the victim was harassed, threatened or coerced to convert. Cases where attempts were made to convert but the victim resisted would be documented in another sub-category. Such cases where Hindu victims are harassed to convert to the perpetrator’s religion are rooted in animosity towards the victim’s religious identity and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. The second sub-category under which this case has been placed is- Proselytisation by brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, and within this, two tertiary categories namely, 'conversion of minors' and 'pattern of targeting Hindu women/minors' have been also selected. Proselytisation by brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination- Religious brainwashing essentially means the often subtle and forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up their religious beliefs to accept contrasting regimented ideas. Religious brainwashing also involves propaganda and manipulation. It involves the systematic effort, driven by religious malice and indoctrination, to persuade “non-believers’ to accept allegiance, command, or doctrine to and of a contrasting faith. Cases of such brainwashing are far more nuanced than direct threats, coercion, inducement and violence. In such cases, it is often seen that there is repeated, subtle and continual manipulation of the victim to induce disaffection towards their own faith and acceptance of the contrasting faith of the perpetrator. While subtle indoctrination is widely acknowledged as predatory, an element which is often understated in such conversions or the attempts of such conversion is the role of loyalty and trust which might develop between the perpetrator and the victim. Fiduciary relationships are often abused to affect such religious conversion. For example, an educator transmitting religious doctrine of a competing faith to a Hindu student. The Hindu student is likely to accept what the teacher is transmitting owing to existence of the fiduciary relationship. The exploitation of the fiduciary relationship to religiously indoctrinate victims would also be included in this category. Since the underlying animosity towards the victim’s faith forms the basis of predatory proselytization, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. Here, as per case details, Hindu children were being targeted within madrasas and government schools for forced religious conversions. Minor Hindu students were harassed to perform namaz and coerced into converting to Islam. Reports indicated that a Hindu Dalit girl in the Anantpura area was already converted to Islam, with her name changed to Shakeena, and concerns were raised about the possible circumcision of male children as part of these coercive practices. This case highlights a systematic and targeted effort to undermine the religious identity of vulnerable Hindu minors. Since the victims were minors, there was a lack of consent and a genuine change of conscience. It is a well-established fact that children are more susceptible to manipulation since they are still developing emotionally, cognitively, and socially. Their brains are not fully matured, making them more vulnerable to influence and less capable of critically evaluating information. Moreover, subtle manipulation tactics can be difficult to detect, especially when employed by trusted authority figures in positions of influence. This makes it challenging for parents, to identify and address instances of religious manipulation in schools. In this case, the accused, who were teachers, subtly influenced the children by denigrating Hinduism and coercing them to offer namaz. This act of insulting Hinduism to brainwash the children reflects animosity towards the Hindu faith. Moreover, the allegations of connections between the accused teachers and banned terrorist outfits further aggravate the seriousness of the situation, suggesting that these conversions were not isolated incidents but part of a larger, potentially dangerous agenda. The coercion of children into converting religions, especially through psychological pressure and manipulation, is an egregious violation of their religious rights. It represents a hate crime because it targets individuals based on their religious identity, with the intent to erase or alter that identity. As such, the case is classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under Predatory Proselytization.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
N/A
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
