Hindu ASHA workers targeted for Christian conversion through coercion, indoctrination and denigration of idol worship in Anand, Gujarat

Case ID : 30a9b8f | Location : Anand, Gujarat, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 2 August, 2022

Case ID : 30a9b8f

Anand, Gujarat, India

2 August, 2022

Hindu ASHA workers targeted for Christian conversion through coercion, indoctrination and denigration of idol worship in Anand, Gujarat

Predatory Proselytisation

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Attempting to convert/converting by denigrating Hinduism

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Victim says was brainwashed/groomed

Pattern of targeting Hindus

Case Summary

In Anand, Gujarat, Hindu Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers were targeted for forced conversion through coercive Christian religious activities. They were pressured to read the Bible and Christian literature, watch videos promoting Christianity, and attend a Christian religious programme organised under the pretext of an official departmental meeting. The victims were also subjected to denigration of Hindu beliefs, including criticism of murti puja (idol worship), and were told the supposed benefits of conversion. Khambhat Rural Police registered a case against ASHA supervisor Namrata Makwana under the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act for forcing Hindu workers to take part in religious customs related to Christianity, forcing religious conversion, and criticising Hindu idol worship. According to the complaint filed by a Hindu ASHA worker, she and four other Hindu ASHA workers were asked to read the Bible and Christian literature. They were also shown videos promoting Christianity and criticising idol worship. The complaint further stated that the Hindu ASHA workers were invited to attend a religious programme in Vadodara on the pretext of a departmental meeting. They were threatened with salary reduction if they refused to attend the programme or comply with the instructions. The incidents took place between 2022 and 2024, following which an FIR was registered in November 2025. During the investigation, the police filed a chargesheet stating that the accused’s family was associated with Jehovah's Witnesses of India (JWI) and that she had received more than ₹30 crore from the organisation. The investigation stated that economically weaker Hindu ASHA workers were targeted, their financial circumstances were exploited, and religious activities promoting Christianity were carried out. The investigation further stated that Hindu idol worship was criticised and the benefits of conversion were highlighted through experiences shared by individuals during the Vadodara programme. The investigation material also indicated that the Hindu ASHA workers were taken into a closed room where idol worship in Hinduism was criticised, Christianity was promoted, and experiences of people present at the Vadodara programme were used to demonstrate the supposed benefits of conversion. The accused approached the Gujarat High Court seeking to quash the FIR, arguing that she was a follower of Jehovah’s Witnesses and that propagation of her religion was protected under Article 25 of the Constitution. She denied allegations of coercion, inducement, deception, or attempts at conversion. She further argued that the complainant had no authority to file a complaint on behalf of other ASHA workers, that the complaint was delayed, and that it was filed due to a personal vendetta over workplace issues. The State opposed the petition, submitting that the material collected during the investigation disclosed the commission of cognisable offences under the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act. After examining the investigation records, the Gujarat High Court observed that the material prima facie showed that economically weaker individuals were targeted, their financial circumstances were exploited, Hindu idol worship was criticised, Christianity was promoted, and attempts were made to influence employees through organised religious activities. The Gujarat High Court dismissed the petition, holding that the investigation disclosed cognisable offences under the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2003. The court allowed the accused to raise all legal defences before the trial court.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Predatory Proselytisation. Within it, the sub-category selected 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 in discriminatory grounds which have 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. The other sub-category selected here is - Attempting to convert/converting by denigrating Hinduism. In several cases, Hindus are converted, or an attempt is made to convert Hindus by denigrating their faith, Hinduism. In such cases, the Hindus associate with the non-Hindu perpetrators often by choice and then the attempt to convert them by insulting their faith, showing the faith down, etc begins. An example of this would be a non-Hindu gathering where the Hindus are attending the gathering of their own free will. However, once they attend the gathering, there is an explicit attempt to convert them by abusing their faith and hailing the faith of the perpetrator. The denigration of the Hindu faith is often based on misrepresentation of the Hindu faith, its doctrine and scriptures and insults to espoused traditions, if not blatant lies about Hindu beliefs and ways. Such conversions or attempts at conversions are driven by animosity towards the Hindu faith and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. The other subcategory selected is: Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary categories selected are: Victim says was brainwashed/groomed, 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. This case was included in the Hinduphobia Tracker because it involved a sustained and organised attempt to pressure Hindu ASHA workers to abandon their faith through coercive Christian religious activities carried out within the workplace. The victims were specifically targeted because they were Hindus and were repeatedly exposed to Christian teachings, religious literature, videos and prayer meetings with the objective of influencing them to embrace Christianity. The material collected during the investigation further indicated that Hindu beliefs were denigrated, and the perceived benefits of conversion were repeatedly emphasised. Such conduct extended far beyond the legitimate propagation of religion and amounted to a systematic attempt to influence and alter the religious identity of Hindu employees through pressure and sustained religious targeting. A significant feature of this case was the use of coercion and intimidation to influence the victims' religious choices. The Hindu employees were repeatedly directed to attend Christian religious programmes under the guise of official departmental meetings and were threatened with salary deductions if they refused to participate or failed to comply with the instructions given by their superior. Such threats deprived the victims of the freedom to make independent decisions regarding matters of faith. The ability to freely profess, practise and continue following one's religion without coercion forms an essential component of religious liberty. Using economic pressure and fear of adverse employment consequences to influence Hindu employees towards conversion violated their religious autonomy and transformed what should have been a matter of personal conscience into one of compulsion. Such arm-twisting demonstrated clear religious hostility towards the victims' Hindu identity by attempting to make continued adherence to Hinduism professionally disadvantageous. The conduct also reflected a serious abuse of official authority. The accused occupied a supervisory position over the Hindu ASHA workers and used that position not for administrative purposes but to repeatedly expose subordinate Hindu employees to Christian teachings and religious practices. The inherent imbalance of power between a supervisor and subordinate meant that the victims could not freely decline participation without fearing repercussions. By exploiting official authority to compel attendance at Christian religious activities and discourage refusal through threats of salary reduction, the accused blurred the boundary between professional supervision and religious coercion. The workplace was thereby transformed into a venue for exerting religious pressure rather than one governed by equality, neutrality and respect for the diverse faiths of employees. The repeated insistence that the Hindu workers were made to read the Bible, study Christian religious literature, watch videos promoting Christianity and attend Christian prayer meetings formed part of a sustained process of religious indoctrination rather than isolated instances of religious expression. Indoctrination involves the repeated exposure of individuals to one set of religious ideas while gradually discouraging or weakening their attachment to their existing beliefs. By continually directing Hindu employees to consume Christian religious material and participate in Christian religious gatherings, the accused subjected them to continuous religious messaging designed to normalise Christian beliefs and encourage acceptance of Christian doctrines. When such sustained religious exposure is coupled with an unequal power relationship, it assumes the character of systematic religious brainwashing intended to reshape the victims' religious convictions rather than allowing them to exercise genuine freedom of belief. Equally significant was the simultaneous denigration of Hindu beliefs while promoting Christianity. According to the investigation, Hindu idol worship was repeatedly criticised during these sessions. Murti puja (idol worship) occupies a central place in Hindu religious life, where consecrated murtis are revered as sacred manifestations of the divine and serve as the focal point of worship for millions of Hindus. Repeatedly portraying this foundational religious practice as inferior or incorrect while simultaneously presenting Christianity as a superior alternative was not merely an expression of theological disagreement. Rather, it functioned as a deliberate strategy to manipulate Hindu employees into viewing their own faith negatively, weaken their confidence in their ancestral traditions and make conversion appear more desirable. Such denigration targeted Hindu religious beliefs themselves and reflected deep-seated intolerance towards Hinduism rather than simple religious propagation. The investigation further indicated that the victims were taken into a closed room where Christian teachings were delivered, Hindu beliefs were criticised, and the experiences of individuals who had embraced Christianity were presented to highlight the supposed benefits of conversion. Such methods reflected a carefully structured process of persuasion in which the victims were repeatedly exposed to favourable narratives about conversion while negative portrayals of their own religion were simultaneously advanced. Presenting conversion as a pathway to personal or material improvement while disparaging Hindu beliefs constituted a classic method of religious manipulation intended to psychologically distance individuals from their existing faith and encourage acceptance of another religion. Viewed cumulatively, these acts revealed a systematic effort to influence the religious beliefs of vulnerable Hindu employees through sustained psychological conditioning. The targeting of economically weaker Hindu ASHA workers further aggravated the seriousness of the conduct. The investigation specifically recorded that economically vulnerable employees were selected and that their financial circumstances were exploited while Christian religious activities were carried out. Individuals facing financial insecurity are particularly susceptible to pressure from those exercising authority over their livelihood. When promises of benefits or fear of salary deductions are introduced into a religious context, the resulting choice can no longer be regarded as wholly voluntary. Instead, the victims are placed in circumstances where economic vulnerability is leveraged to influence religious decisions. Exploiting such vulnerabilities to encourage Hindus to abandon their faith demonstrated a calculated effort to secure religious conversion by taking advantage of the victims' dependence upon their employment. Overall, since this case meets several parameters of a religiously driven offence, it is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident date based on when the victim's ordeal began rather than the date on which the incident was reported by the media. In the present case, the complaint stated that the incidents occurred between 2022 and 2024; however, no exact date marking the commencement of the ordeal was specified. The incident was reported by the media on 3 August 2026. Therefore, taking both these facts into account, an indicative incident date of 3 August 2022 has been selected. This date has been recorded solely for documentation purposes.