Hindu youths assaulted for resisting conversion to Christianity; Christian priests and aides were using fear tactics and defaming Hindu deities and traditions to encourage conversion

Case ID : 5954aa2 | Location : Rajgarh, Madhya Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 24 December, 2024
Case ID : 5954aa2
location Rajgarh, Madhya Pradesh, India
date 24 December, 2024
Hindu youths assaulted for resisting conversion to Christianity; Christian priests and aides were using fear tactics and defaming Hindu deities and traditions to encourage conversion
Predatory Proselytisation
Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion
Attempting to convert/converting by denigrating Hinduism
Attack not resulting in death
Attacked for refusal to convert

Case Summary

In the Rajgarh village of Sardarpur, tensions escalated within the Hindu community after an incident involving the assault of two youths, Amar Singh and Mukesh, who refused to convert to Christianity. The incident occurred during a Christmas gathering organised in an open field, where a tent was set up, and people were being encouraged to convert. When Amar Singh and Mukesh declined to participate in the conversion, they were attacked by the priest and others with sticks and sharp weapons. Amar Singh sustained severe injuries and was treated in the ICU. A large group from the Hindu community gathered at the SDOP office, shouting slogans against religious conversions and demanding action. Two separate memorandums were submitted to SDOP Vishwadeep Singh Parihar. In the first memorandum, the community demanded the arrest of those responsible for the attack and called for an immediate halt to the conversions taking place in the area. The second memorandum highlighted additional concerns about activities at the Sanjay Colony Church, where outsiders were accused of frequent misconduct. The community said that Christian priests and their associates used fear tactics, such as warnings of natural disasters, to coerce people into converting while defaming Hindu deities and traditions. They further said that black magic was employed to manipulate individuals, and promises of material benefits were offered as incentives for conversion.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The case has been added as a religiously motivated hate crime under two prime categories of the tracker. The first category is- Attack not resulting in death. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Attacked for refusal to convert. When there is pressure, threat or coercion employed upon the Hindu victim to convert to a different religion, in several cases, the victim refuses to succumb to the pressure/threats. Once the victim refuses, the perpetrator proceeds to attack/assault the victim owing to his/her refusal to convert. In such cases, the pressure/threat/intimidation/coercion/violence itself is driven by animosity towards the victim’s Hindu faith. The violence then is another hate crime driven by the victim’s refusal to abandon his professed faith, Hinduism, and convert to the religion of a non-Hindu perpetrator. Since the victim’s faith is at the heart of the pressure to convert and the ensuing violence towards the victim, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. The second category under which this case has been placed is- Predatory proselytisation and within this, two sub-categories have been selected. The first 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. In this subcategory, we would only include cases where the victim was harassed, threatened or coerced to convert. Cases where attempts were made to convert but the victim resisted would be documented in another sub-category. 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 second sub-category relevant 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 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 qualifies as a religiously motivated hate crime as the violence against the two Hindu youths Amar Singh and Mukesh was directly linked to their refusal to participate in a forced conversion to Christianity. Further, the perpetrators not only harassed the victims through threats and coercion, but also used tactics like black magic and defamation of Hinduism to manipulate individuals into conversion. Such tactics are usually employed not only to assert the perceived superiority of their own religious beliefs over Hinduism but also to instil doubt in the minds of Hindus, making them more susceptible to conversion. The underlying motivation of predatory proselytisation itself is animosity towards the professed faith of the victim. In this case, there was violence involved in the pressure exerted to forcefully convert the Hindu victims. Since the central motivation is religion, this case has been added as a hate crime.

Victim Details

Total Victim

2

Deceased

0


Gender

  • Male 2
  • Female 0
  • Third Gender 0
  • Unknown 0

Caste

  • SC/ST 0
  • OBC 0
  • General 2
  • Unknown 0

Age Group

  • Minor 0
  • Adult 2
  • Senior Citizen 0
  • Unknown 0
Case Status Background
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Case Status


Complaint filed

Case Status Background
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Perpetrators Details

Perpetrators


Christian Extremists

Perpetrators Range


Unknown

Perpetrators Gender


unknown

Case Details SVG
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