Hindus targeted for religious conversion through Christian poster denigrating Hindu deities and promising miraculous cures for diseases
Nadia district, West Bengal, India 
8 September, 2026
Case Summary
In Nadia district of West Bengal, Hindus were targeted for conversion to Christianity by Christian missionaries. The accused had pasted a Christian religious poster near New Laxmi Club in Baganchra under Shantipur police station, using claims about illness, financial hardship and material prosperity to brainwash, indoctrinate and induce Hindus to convert to Christianity. The poster denigrated the worship of Hindu deities while presenting Christianity as the path to health, prosperity and a better life. The poster prominently carried the words “Hail Jesus” and stated: “To get freedom from all kinds of diseases and to become financially strong and prosperous, come to us today.” It further stated: “There are so many diseases in India. The reason for this is that most of them are not believers in Christ and therefore worship Hindu gods and goddesses.” The poster attributed the prevalence of diseases in India to people not believing in Christ and worshipping Hindu gods and goddesses, while presenting Christianity as a means of obtaining freedom from illness. The poster also stated: “Today, the people of Europe are so developed because they are Christians.” It then called upon Hindus to embrace Christianity, stating: “To achieve financial development, to get freedom from all diseases, come to the Christian religion today.” These statements presented Christianity as being associated with financial development and freedom from diseases, while associating Hindu worship with illness and deprivation. The material also quoted Jesus from the Bible, stating: “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” At the bottom, the poster listed two missionaries, Sadhan Dhara and Radharani Dhara, as contact persons. It gave the location as “Behind Baganchra New Laxmi Club” and also carried a contact number for those seeking further information. The poster was subsequently noticed by local Hindu residents, following which a complaint was lodged at Shantipur police station. The complaint objected to the contents of the poster, including its statements regarding Hindu worship and its appeal to people to embrace Christianity for financial development and freedom from diseases. At the time of writing this report, the incident was being looked into to establish who had pasted the posters in the area and whether they were circulated as part of an organised Christian missionary or conversion campaign. The poster’s contents, including its references to Hindu gods and goddesses, claims regarding diseases in India, comparison with Christian-majority Europe and appeal to embrace Christianity for prosperity and relief from illness, formed the basis of the complaint.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
In this case, the primary category selected is: Predatory Proselytisation. 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 subcategory selected is: 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. The other subcategory selected 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 insult 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. This case is a clear example of a religiously driven hate crime, as the Christian perpetrators targeted Hindus for conversion through religious posters that denigrated Hindu deities, sought to brainwash and indoctrinate Hindus, and offered health and financial benefits as inducements for conversion to Christianity. Firstly, the assertion that converting to Christianity would provide freedom from diseases functioned as an inducement and a method of psychological manipulation. The perpetrators exploited concerns surrounding health and illness to persuade Hindus to abandon their existing faith and embrace Christianity, using health vulnerabilities as a tool for religious conversion. By presenting better health as a benefit of conversion and associating continued suffering with remaining within the Hindu faith, they exploited the fear of disease to influence religious choice. This went beyond an expression of religious belief and amounted to a deliberate attempt to manipulate vulnerable Hindus into changing their religion. Such coercive and manipulative inducements undermined free religious choice and violated the victims' religious autonomy. Such actions showcased the perpetrators' disdain towards Hinduism, making it a religiously motivated crime. The perpetrators also associated the worship of Hindu deities with the prevalence of diseases in India, telling Hindus that illness exists because people do not believe in Christ and instead worship Hindu gods and goddesses. In doing so, they portrayed Hindu religious practice as harmful and responsible for suffering, while presenting Christianity as the solution. This was a deliberate attempt to undermine Hindus' confidence in their own faith and indoctrinate them into viewing Hinduism as the cause of their hardships and Christianity as a superior alternative. The attempt to alter how Hindus perceive their own religion through such denigrating assertions formed part of the conversion strategy and demonstrated religious hostility towards Hinduism. The denigration of Hindu deities was particularly significant because these deities are central to Hindu religious life and are deeply revered by Hindus. Worship of Hindu deities forms an integral part of Hindu practice and accompanies devotees throughout their lives, from childhood through adulthood and old age. By linking the worship of these revered deities to diseases and financial hardship, the perpetrators directly attacked fundamental aspects of Hindu religious identity. They sought to humiliate Hindus for practising their faith and then use that humiliation to persuade them to adopt Christianity. The denigration was therefore integral to the conversion effort, rather than incidental religious commentary. Portraying Hindu worship as a cause of suffering and using that portrayal to influence Hindus towards Christianity demonstrated religious animosity towards Hinduism and further violated their religious autonomy. The perpetrators also portrayed Christianity as the reason for Europe's development, stating that Europeans developed because they were Christians and subsequently urging people to embrace Christianity for financial development. This presented Christianity as synonymous with prosperity and development while implicitly associating Hinduism with poverty and deprivation. Economic aspirations were thus used alongside health concerns as tools of religious persuasion. By presenting conversion as a means of achieving financial advancement, the perpetrators exploited the socio-economic vulnerabilities of Hindus and sought to influence their religious choices through material inducements rather than voluntary belief. This use of economic prosperity as a conversion incentive, alongside the denigration of Hinduism, demonstrated an effort to undermine Hindu religious identity and promote Christianity through manipulative means. The perpetrators also quoted the Bible on the poster as part of their conversion effort. The biblical quotation appeared alongside messages portraying Christianity as the path to health, prosperity and salvation, reinforcing the broader attempt to influence Hindu readers towards Christian beliefs. The use of scripture in conjunction with the denigration of Hinduism and promises of physical and material benefits formed part of a wider process of religious persuasion and indoctrination directed at Hindus. The perpetrators therefore used Christian religious messaging not simply to express their own faith, but to influence Hindus into abandoning theirs. This combination of religious denigration, psychological manipulation, health and economic inducements and conversion-oriented messaging demonstrated hostility towards Hindu religious identity, making this incident an example of a hate crime. These instances of targeted proselytisation activities stem from inherent hostility towards the victims' professed faith, since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent to their faith is subject to being dehumanised till they convert, making it a religiously motivated crime against Hindus. Therefore, this case is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incident dates based on when the crime occurred rather than when it was reported in the media. In this case, the exact date on which the crime occurred was not specified in the available reports. The only date specified was the date of media publication, 9 September 2026. Hence, 9 September 2026 was selected as the indicative incident date for documentation purposes only.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
both
Sources 
