Hindus assaulted and harassed in their village to convert, cows slaughtered outside their house

Case ID : b507382 | Location : Tijara, Rajasthan, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 27 October, 2024

Case ID : b507382

Tijara, Rajasthan, India

27 October, 2024

Hindus assaulted and harassed in their village to convert, cows slaughtered outside their house

Predatory Proselytisation

Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for refusal to convert

Attack on Hindu religious representations

Defiling religious customs

Case Summary

A case of forced religious conversion and assault surfaced in the Tapukara police station area of Khairthal Tijara district, Rajasthan. The incident occurred in Bibipur village, where a violent clash between two groups left two people seriously injured. The victims, Surendra Singh and his wife Paramjeet were attacked late by members of the Muslim community who reportedly demanded that they convert to their religion or leave the area. Surendra Singh stated that the attackers, armed with sticks and axes, stormed his house, assaulting his family and threatening their lives unless they converted. The assailants said, “Join our community, or we won’t spare you.” Singh also revealed that a similar incident had occurred 10 days prior, and despite filing a police complaint, no action was taken. Paramjeet added that the attackers slaughtered cows in front of their house to intimidate them. Former Alwar MLA Banwari Lal Singhal visited the hospital to meet the injured and condemned the attack. He demanded strict action from the administration and warned of intense protests if the authorities failed to address the issue promptly.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This particular case has been classified as a religiously motivated crime under three prime categories of the tracker because of the various distinct components that demonstrate the perpetrator's bias against the Hindu faith and their deliberate attempt to alienate the victims from their Hindu identity. The first is- Predatory proselytisation, within which, the sub-category chosen is- Harassment, threat, 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 category under which this case has been placed 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 third category relevant here is- Attack on Hindu religious representations. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Defiling religious customs. Sanatan Dharma is not a religion of one book, which is to say that while it has religious scriptures that form the central tenets of the faith, there are several traditions followed through thousands of years, mostly passed from generation to generation orally. There are several such customs and traditions that are followed by various Hindus and Hindu sects. Defiling of these traditions and customs is a breach of an individual or group’s religious practices. Such practices can range from dietary restrictions like not eating non-vegetarian food for a certain period of the year, not eating non-vegetarian food at all, not eating beef since the cow is considered holy in Hinduism, the sanctity of religious customs followed in the house (like many ISCKON devotees), etc. Any malicious action leading to the breach of such traditions or defilement of these traditions owing to animosity towards the faith or for the sake of activism stems not only from the lack of faith in the religion itself but also from disregard for the faith of the devotees who follow the customs/traditions and implicit bias against the faith, the tradition itself. Since these specific traditions are central to the faith of the devotees of that specific sect of Hindus, any non-compliance with these traditional rules would be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. Surendra Singh and his wife Paramjeet endured a violent attack by members of the Muslim community who sought to coerce them into converting to Islam or vacating their home. Armed with sticks and axes, the assailants invaded the couple's residence, causing severe injuries and issuing death threats. The brutality extended beyond physical violence, with the attackers slaughtering cows in front of the victims’ house as a means of intimidation. The slaughter of cows, regarded as sacred in Hinduism, highlights the attackers’ deliberate attempt to mock the victims’ faith and instill fear. This act of religious provocation was aimed at compelling the victims to surrender to their demands for conversion. The incident underscores the deep animosity the perpetrators harboured against Hinduism and this is why, this case has been added to the database.