Hindu students forced to perform Christian prayers in government-aided Missionary school in Chattisgarh
Jashpur, Chhattisgarh, India 
16 January, 2025
Case Summary
In a hostel run by the government-aided Vinay Primary and Secondary School located in Jashpur in Chattisgarh, Hindu students along with students of other religions were forced to pray Christian prayers at a Church. According to the students, the hostel was adjacent to the church premises, and everyone was forced to pray in the church, regardless of their religion. The students were forcibly made to attend "Mass" (Christian prayer) every morning and "Rosary" in the evening and also take part in other Christian activities. Similar activities were also made compulsory for students every Saturday and Sunday. This is a method of proselytising students towards Christianity. Apart from compulsory prayers, the hostel showed negligence in the health and sanitation of the students. According to media reports the students were also forced to do manual labour like farming and gardening. Father Amit Beck, the head of the school, rejected these allegations and said that this is not a hostel, but a place built to provide an opportunity to study to poor children coming from far-off places. He said that children are being taught farming and gardening so that they can become self-reliant. On the allegations of conversion and participation in prayers, he said that it is voluntary and no pressure is put on anyone. However local citizens drew attention to these irregularities by sending an anonymous letter to the Chairman of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Nitin Rai. CWC President Nitin Rai considered these allegations serious and said, "On the basis of the complaint, action is being initiated to investigate all government-aided schools and illegal hostels. If violation of children's rights and attempt to convert is proved, legal action will be taken."
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Predatory proselytisation. Under this, the first sub-category selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. Further, the tertiary category selected under this is- Conversion of minor. 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 grooming or 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 grooming or 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. The second sub-category under which this case has been placed 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. In this case, it was observed that minors were systematically subjected to both subtle and overt attempts to alter their religious beliefs. Hindu students were reportedly forced to participate in Christian practices like Mass, Rosary, and weekend activities, suggesting an intentional effort to shape their religious identity. Furthermore, they were pressured into mandatory participation in prayers and physical labour, including farming and gardening. These actions not only deprived the students of their freedom of choice but also placed them in a position where they might feel coerced into complying due to their dependence on the hostel’s resources. Further, the details of this case reveal that the Hindu victims were minors, indicating 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. Consequently, cases involving religious manipulation of minors not only represent an infringement on an individual's religious freedom but also demonstrate a calculated strategy of targeting those who are less able to resist or understand the long-term implications of conversion, making it a significant case of religious-motivated hate crime. For this reason, this case has been added to the tracker.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
