Christian missionaries use auto with saffron flag to enter village to convert people
Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India 
31 October, 2024
Case Summary
In a village near Raipur, Chhattisgarh, Christian Missionaries arrived in Pathari village in an autorickshaw with a saffron flag, distributing pamphlets and spreading religious material about Jesus and persuading locals to convert to Christianity. Locals, along with Bajrang Dal members, opposed the missionaries, who fled as resistance grew. The Rashtriya Bajrang Dal submitted a memorandum to the district collector, demanding strict action against the alleged conversion attempts statewide. Bajrang Dal also objected to an upcoming religious event by the Indian Pentecostal Church of God on November 1, calling it a covert conversion attempt and urging authorities to deny permission. They warned of action if the event proceeded.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The incident involving Christian missionaries in Pathari village can be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under the category of 'Predatory Proselytisation', specifically within the sub-category of 'Proselytisation by grooming, 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 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. This classification stems from the missionaries' approach, which included distributing pamphlets and religious materials in a manner that could be perceived as coercive or manipulative. By arriving with a saffron flag—a symbol often associated with Hinduism—while promoting Christianity, the missionaries may have purposely sought to exploit local Hindu symbols to gain trust and facilitate their conversion agenda. Since the underlying offence is against vulnerable individuals of a specific faith and involves indoctrination and brainwashing, this case is being categorised as a hate crime.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
N/A
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
