Hindu tribal families in Bharuch targeted for organised conversion through inducements by Muslim clerics
Amod,, Gujarat, India 
7 April, 2006
Case Summary
Hindu tribal families in Kankariya village in Amod taluka, Bharuch district, Gujarat, were subjected to organised efforts of religious conversion through inducements and pressure over several years. More than 100 individuals from around 37 Hindu families were converted to Islam through a structured network involving multiple perpetrators. The Hindu victims were targeted based on their economic vulnerability and social position within the tribal community. The sequence of events began as early as 2006 and continued until 2021. The perpetrators, including Muslim men identified as Sarfaraz, also known as Javid Khuji or Javid Mufti Salim Hasan Yusuf Ibrahim Khilji and Ramiz Raja, also known as Owaish Abdul Gani Abdul Rahim Khilji, along with other associates, regularly visited Kankariya village and nearby tribal areas. They organised gatherings in the village where religious teachings were conducted and Namaz (Islamic prayer) was performed. During this period, Hindu tribal families were approached with offers of financial and material benefits. The perpetrators distributed cash, new clothes, medical aid, and household items, including air coolers, water coolers, handcarts, mats, and sheets. These inducements were used to influence vulnerable families to change their religion. The victims were repeatedly engaged through meetings and interactions designed to encourage religious conversion. In 2018, a Hindu man, Pravinbhai Vasantbhai Vasava, along with several other families, was influenced to convert to Islam. Following this, their Aadhaar cards and other identity documents were updated to reflect new names and religious identities. Victims were transported to locations such as Surat, where they were made to sign documents altering their personal details. The activities continued in subsequent years. The perpetrators conducted regular visits in vehicles and maintained contact with the villagers. Children from converted families were sent to madrasas (Islamic religious schools) in places such as Jambusar and Hazira. They were also taken to religious gatherings in cities including Malegaon and Mumbai. The Hindu victims and their families were subjected to sustained pressure to convert. Threats were issued that they would not be allowed to live peacefully in the village if they refused. The process involved repeated interaction, inducement, and pressure over time. In November 2021, Hindu victim Pravinbhai Vasantbhai Vasava filed a complaint at Amod Police Station. The complaint detailed the involvement of multiple perpetrators in organised conversion activities targeting Hindu tribal families. The First Information Report named several individuals, including local persons and foreign-linked actors such as Haji Abdullah Fefdawala. Following the complaint, a First Information Report was registered at Amod Police Station in November 2021. The police initiated an investigation and subsequently filed multiple charge sheets, including a third supplementary charge sheet. Legal action was taken under the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2003 and relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code. The Trial Court rejected discharge applications filed by the perpetrators. The Gujarat High Court upheld this decision on 30 March 2021, observing that prima facie evidence and witness statements supported the continuation of proceedings. The investigation remained ongoing, with multiple perpetrators named in the case. The perpetrator was granted bail.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category - Predatory proselytisation. Within this, the subcategory selected is - Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement. Predatory Proselytisation is not just limited to threat, harassment, force and violence, but it also has contours of stealth. In several cases, the Hindu victim is exploited to convert, with non-Hindus taking advantage of their poverty. In such cases, the Hindu victim who is suffering financially is offered monetary benefits, including lucrative offers for jobs, health treatment, education, etc, to induce the victim into changing his/her religion. In such cases, the religious identity of the victim and the aim to disenfranchise him from his faith form the heart of the crime. Also, taking advantage of and exploiting an individual’s economic vulnerabilities is widely acknowledged as exploitation, forms of which are often penalised by law. Such cases therefore are considered religiously motivated hate crimes since the victim’s religious identity forms the very heart of the crime itself. The other sub-category selected for this case is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category under this is - Pattern of targeting Hindus. 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. Another sub-category selected for this case 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. 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. This case qualifies as a religiously motivated hate crime because Hindu tribal families were systematically targeted by Muslim perpetrators through organised efforts aimed at converting them to Islam. The actions were not isolated or incidental but formed part of a sustained and structured operation. The victims were selected based on their Hindu identity and economic vulnerability. The use of inducements, pressure, and repeated engagement shows that religion was the central motive behind the acts. The perpetrators engaged in sustained outreach within Hindu tribal communities over several years. They conducted repeated visits, organised gatherings, and built continuous contact with the villagers. This is religiously significant because it reflects a deliberate attempt to penetrate and influence a specific religious group. Hindu families were not approached randomly but were targeted as a community. This demonstrates that their Hindu identity made them the focus of these efforts. The perpetrators offered cash, clothing, medical assistance, and household goods to Hindu families. This is religiously significant because these material benefits were directly tied to the act of conversion. The inducements were not general charity but conditional incentives linked to abandoning one religion and adopting another. This shows that the Hindu victims were specifically targeted due to their socio economic vulnerability as members of a Hindu tribal group, making them more susceptible to such offers. The perpetrators created an environment of repeated exposure to religious teachings and practices. They organised gatherings where Islamic prayers and lectures were conducted. This is significant because it reflects a process of gradual influence rather than a single act. The Hindu victims were continuously exposed to messaging that encouraged religious change. This demonstrates a structured attempt to reshape their beliefs over time because of their Hindu identity. The case also involved the alteration of identity documents such as Aadhaar cards after conversion. This is religiously significant because it shows an attempt to formalise and institutionalise the change in religious identity. The victims were not only influenced socially but were also pushed into administrative changes that would permanently alter their identity. This indicates a deliberate effort to erase their Hindu identity and replace it with another. The perpetrators applied pressure and issued threats to Hindu families who resisted conversion. They were told they would not be allowed to live peacefully in the village. This is significant because it introduces coercion into the process. The targeting of Hindu victims through threats shows that the objective was not voluntary religious exchange but enforced change. Their identity as Hindus became the basis for intimidation. The targeting extended across multiple families within the same Hindu tribal community. More than 100 individuals from around 37 families were affected. This is significant because it shows a pattern rather than isolated incidents. The scale indicates a coordinated effort aimed at a specific religious group. The Hindu community as a whole was subjected to systematic pressure, reinforcing that religion was the defining factor in their targeting. A similar case had previously come to light, involving allegations of coercion, inducements, and intimidation in targeting individuals for religious conversion. The present case reflects a comparable pattern, prompting its inclusion for contextual reference. Together, these instances raise broader concerns about exploitation and the misuse of influence under the guise of faith. Given that this case met the parameters of a religiously motivated hate crime, it was added to the hate crime database of the tracker. Disclaimer: The tracker records incident dates based on when the events occurred rather than when they were reported. In this case, the exact starting date of the incident is not specified, though the activities are noted to have begun from 2006. Therefore, 8 April 2006 has been used as the indicative incident date, aligning the known start year with the article’s publication date. This date has been recorded for documentation purposes only.
Case Status
Case sub-judice
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
