Case Summary

In multiple villages across the Gariaband district, Chhattisgarh, Hindu villagers were being converted by Christian missionaries under the guise of prayer/healing meetings and treatment of diseases. According to reports, in the villages of Lafandi, Beltukri and Bijli, religious conversions were taking place on the false pretext of treating diseases. On 10 August 2025, members of a Hindu organisation, accompanied by police, disrupted multiple healing meetings organised by Christian missionaries in these villages. When members of the Hindu organisation reached the premises, the organisers admitted, in the presence of police, that they were conducting these prayer meetings without any government permission. Most of the participants were Hindus from poor and backwards communities, along with some government employees. Villagers also reported that in these meetings, people were first lured in the name of treating diseases, but gradually the missionaries began to denigrate Hinduism, questioning the power of Hindu deities Ram, Krishna and Mahadev, in order to induce conversion. They also pressured the victims to convert to Christianity. Vishwa Hindu Parishad district president Prakash Nirmalkar and convenor Mohit Sahu warned that if such illegal conversion activities were not stopped, they would launch large-scale protests across the district. A memorandum was also submitted to the police administration, demanding immediate action at all three locations. As of the date of writing this report, the police confirmed that the matter was being investigated and stated that action would be taken if any activity was found to be in violation of the law.

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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 - 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 second 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 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 third sub-category selected here 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. 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 fourth sub-category selected is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, with the tertiary category being - 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 added to the tracker because Christian missionaries were trying to convert Hindu villagers from poor and backwards communities under the guise of healing meetings and treatment of diseases. Offering incentives or making false promises of healing, especially when directed at vulnerable individuals in need, were not acts of kindness or charity but a calculated move to exploit Hindus because of their religion. By providing false healing promises in exchange for conversion, the perpetrators were effectively blackmailing those who might have been desperate for assistance. Such exploitation of vulnerability fits the broader framework of predatory proselytisation, where inducements are used as a manipulative tactic to sever the victim from their faith Furthermore, the villagers also stated that the perpetrators denigrated and misled people against Hinduism and Hindu gods and goddesses. The perpetrators questioned the power of Hindu deities Ram, Krishna and Mahadev to make the victims feel inferior about their faith and induce conversion. This goes beyond religious debate or proselytisation; it constitutes an act of incitement and insult directed at the core beliefs of the Hindu community. Such remarks are designed to demean and undermine the faith of Hindus and intend to create an inferiority complex in the minds of the victims against their own faith. This fosters an environment of hostility and disrespect towards the Hindu community and Hindu deities. These acts of insulting Hinduism stem from Christian theology, which harbours disdain and hatred for polytheistic faiths, and which categorises Hindus as ‘polytheists’, thereby fostering hatred against them. Such actions make the religiously motivated nature of the crime even more evident. The Christian faith, by its very theological foundations, places a strong emphasis on proselytisation. In pursuit of conversion objectives, Christian evangelists often employ unethical means, ranging from psychological pressure and misinformation to inducements and denigration of Hinduism. In such cases, Christian missionary groups often target and brainwash socially and economically vulnerable Hindus to further their agenda of religious conversions. This form of coercion strips Hindus of their agency and dignity and enforces forced conversions. This pattern of coercion and conversion through inducement, denigration of Hinduism and threats shows that the conversions were not the result of a genuine exchange of ideas or beliefs. Thus, this case reflects religiously motivated hate crimes rooted in an underlying animosity towards the Hindu identity, exploiting vulnerabilities to alienate individuals from their Hindu faith. Hence, this case has been added to the tracker.