Hindus targeted for Christian conversion under guise of prayer meeting; idol worship condemned and victims indoctrinated
Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, India 
24 June, 2024
Case Summary
In Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, Hindus were persuaded to convert to Christianity under the pretext of a prayer meeting. During the meeting, idol worship, a fundamental practice of Hinduism, was condemned, and the Bible was praised. According to media reports, the prayer meeting was conducted by three Christian men at the house of a man named Brahmapal. There, the accused preached against idol worship in the name of religious discourse and urged Brahmapal and other villagers to convert to Christianity. Following this, they subtly indoctrinated the Hindu attendees by praising the Bible. As news of the incident spread, it angered the villagers, who protested against the conversions. Faced with the villagers’ outrage, the Christian perpetrators fled the scene, but the anger among the villagers persisted. The villagers stated that the Christian perpetrators travelled from village to village, attempting to convert people to Christianity. The locals filed a police complaint against the three Christian perpetrators and demanded that strict action be taken against them.
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- 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. The other subcategory selected in this case is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected in this case 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. In this case, Hindu victims were deliberately targeted for conversion by the accused. The perpetrators denigrated idol worship, a vital element of Hinduism, before subjecting the victims to subtle indoctrination by constantly praising the Bible and urging them to convert. It is important to emphasise that in Hinduism, idol worship is a deeply significant religious practice, serving as a means for devotees to focus their devotion and connect with the divine. Hindus regard idols (murtis) as physical representations of their omnipresent deities. Condemning idol worship is therefore profoundly offensive to Hindus, striking at the very heart of their faith and spiritual traditions. In this case, during the prayer meeting, the Christian perpetrators actively disparaged this fundamental Hindu practice. This behaviour clearly reveals their intent to undermine the Hindu faith, strip Hindus of their religious identity, and further conversion efforts, rooted in deep religious animosity towards the Hindu community. This constitutes a religiously motivated offence. Despite denigrating idol worship, the Christian perpetrators simultaneously promoted and exalted the Bible as a means to persuade Hindus to convert. They also continuously pressured the Hindus to convert to Christianity. This demonstrates a calculated strategy of denigrating one religion’s practices to advance another’s. This subtle indoctrination aimed to erode Hindu faith and coerce individuals into adopting Christianity. Such actions are born out of entrenched hostility towards Hinduism and its adherents, making it a religiously motivated crime. The villagers stated that the Christian perpetrators travelled from village to village with the explicit purpose of converting Hindus. This reveals an ongoing, systematic pattern of targeting Hindu communities through the denigration of their faith and its practices and through Christian indoctrination. Such conduct is a glaring example of a religiously motivated crime intended to undermine the religious and cultural identity of Hindus through coercion and unlawful tactics. These repeated incidents show that the conversions were neither isolated nor accidental but part of a deliberate and calculated campaign to erase the Hindu identity of the victims, making it a religiously motivated hate crime. These instances of targeted proselytisation activities stem from inherent hostility towards the Hindu 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. Disclaimer: Media reports state that multiple Hindus were targeted, but do not specify the exact number. Only one individual, named Brahmapal, has been specifically identified. Therefore, for the purpose of documentation, we are adhering to a conservative estimate of '1' victim.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 1
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
