Teacher beats students for saying "Jai Shri Ram" at a missionary convent school
Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, India 
8 November, 2023
Case Summary
At Bharat Mata Convent School in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, the school management became enraged when students chanted "Jai Shri Ram" on November 9, 2023. Subsequently, the students were called onto the stage and beaten. A student was reportedly slapped. This incident sparked a heated response, prompting the involvement of Hindu organisations. Police, along with Ganjbasoda SDM and SDOP, arrived at the scene promptly. This occurrence added to existing grievances against Bharat Mata Convent School, including instances of harassment for religious practices like applying tilak and tying Kalava, as well as accusations of attempted religious conversion among students.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been placed in the hate tracker under three primary categories. The first is 'Attack not resulting in death'. Further, as per case details, the sub-category chosen under the above mentioned category is- Attacked for Hindu identity. In several cases, Hindus are attacked merely for their Hindu identity without any perceived provocation. A classic example of this category of religiously motivated hate crime is a murder in 2016. 7 ISIS terrorists were convicted for shooting a school principal in Kanpur because they got ‘triggered’ seeing the Kalava on his wrist and tilak that he had put. In this, the Hindu victim had offered no provocation except for his Hindu religious identity. The motivation for the murder was purely religious, driven by religious supremacy. Such cases where Hindus are targeted merely for their religious identity would be documented as a hate crime under this category. The second primary category this case has been added to is 'Restriction/Ban on Hindu practices'. The sub-category chosen is 'Restriction on expression of Hindu identity'. An example of the state-affected prejudicial and targeted orders against the Hindu community would be a government denying the right of a Hindu or a group of Hindus to hold a religious procession owing to the animosity of non-Hindu groups. Denial of the religious right of the Hindus to assuage the non-Hindu group which harbours animosity to a point where it could lead to violence against Hindus is not only a failure of law and order but is a prejudicial order against Hindus, denying them their fundamental rights to express their religious identity. An example of a hate crime against Hindus by a non-Hindu would be a non-Hindu institution forcing its Hindu employees to abandon religious symbols that a Hindu would wear as an expression of faith owing to inherent prejudice against the faith professed by the victim or a non-Hindu group of people restricting a Hindu group from constructing a place of worship simply because the demography of the area in which the temple is being built is dominated by non-Hindus. Such actions are driven by religious animosity and/or prejudice against Hindus and their faith and would therefore be categorized as a hate crime. The third primary category this case is being added to is 'Predatory Proselytisation'. The sub-category chosen is 'proselytisation by brainwashing, grooming, 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 incident at 'Bharat Mata Convent School' in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, where students were beaten for chanting 'Jai Shri Ram', highlights an example of a religiously motivated hate crime, restricting Hindu students by expressing their religious identity. The school's management became enraged upon hearing the students chant a Hindu religious slogan, which led to the students being called onto the stage and physically punished. This act of violence specifically targeted the students' expression of their Hindu faith, demonstrating a direct intolerance toward their religious identity. This incident is not an isolated one but adds to a broader pattern of grievances against the school, which includes allegations of harassment for practicing Hindu rituals like applying tilak and tying Kalava. Such practices are integral to Hindu religious identity, and targeting them reflects an underlying animosity toward the students' faith. Moreover, there have been accusations of attempted religious conversions within the school, further indicating a systematic effort to undermine the religious beliefs of Hindu students and possibly impose a different religious ideology on them. In fact, the public humiliation of Hindu children who were expressing their religious identity is a way to subtly indoctrinate and brainwash the children to disenfranchise them from their faith. The humiliation slowly draws them away from their faith as an element of their lives which brings them ostracisation and humiliation in front of their peers. The disenfranchisement then leaves them vulnerable for proselytisation. Such acts of aggression against individuals based on their religious identity are characteristic of hate crimes, driven by a deep-seated animosity toward a particular religion. In this case, the hostility directed toward Hindu students and their practices reveals a discriminatory attitude that qualifies the incident as a religiously motivated hate crime.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
N/A
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
