Stones pelted from Church on Bajrang Dal volunteers opposing religious conversion
Durg, Chhattisgarh, India 
2 March, 2024
Case Summary
Violence erupted in Durg, Chhatisgarh on March 3, where a conspiracy was being hatched to convert hundreds of Hindus on the pretext of a prayer meeting inside a Church. According to reports, Christian missionaries pelted stones from inside the Church at several Bajrang Dal workers who reached the venue to protest against the religious conversion. Later, the police reached the spot and controlled the situation. Speaking about what transpired, members of the Hindu organizations stated that they received complaints of conversion conspiracies in the Padmanabhpur police station area of Durg for a long time. They further stated that the news of religious conversion in the name of a prayer meeting through lure and inducement had been coming to them from the Oriya colony. On the day of the incident, the Bajrang Dal members reached the venue and protested against the illegal conversion taking place in the Church. The Bajrang Dal workers started raising Jai Shri Ram slogans outside the church. Seeing this, people of the Christian community became enraged and started throwing stones at the Hindu activists. Due to this, Bajrang Dal workers also became furious and entered the church. This led to an altercation between them and the Christian missionaries and the Bajrang Dal volunteers entered the Church. After this, fierce fighting and jostling ensued between the two sides, until police reached the spot and brought the situation under control.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This particular case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under two 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 category which has been chosen is 'Attack not resulting in death' under which the sub-categories selected are- 'Attacked for opposing radicals/or trying to save victim from radicals' and 'Communal clash'. In several cases, Hindus are attacked for opposing religiously motivated crimes being committed against a fellow Hindu or simply for voicing an opinion opposing radical elements, who either have in the past or continue to persecute Hindus. In such cases, the initial attack against the victim, against which the Hindu was trying to defend the victim, would also need to be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime. Since the initial crime itself was religiously motivated and the subsequent crime of attempting to save the victim or speaking against the radical elements ends up inviting a violent attack, it would also be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. The second sub-category selected is communal clash. Communal clash is a form of collective violence that involves clashes between groups belonging to different religious identities. For a communal clash between Hindus and non-Hindus to qualify as a religiously motivated hate crime, the trigger of the violence itself would have to be anti-Hindu in essence. For example, if there is a Hindu religious procession that comes under attack from a non-Hindu mob and after the initial attack, Hindus retaliate in self-defence, leading to a communal clash between the two religious communities. While at a later stage, both communities are involved in the clash/violence, the initial trigger of the violence was by the non-Hindu mob against the Hindus and therefore, it could safely be termed as an anti-Hindu violence. Further, the trigger would also have to be religiously motivated. In the cited example, the attack by the non-Hindu mob was against religious processions and therefore, can be concluded to be religiously motivated. In some cases, the trigger may be non-religious, however, it develops into religious violence against Hindus at a later stage. In such cases too, the foundational animosity towards Hindus becomes the motivating factor of the crime and therefore, it would be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus under this category. The second prime category which has been selected here is 'Predatory Proselytisation' and within this, the sub-category 'Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement' has been selected as per case details. 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. Firstly, this case can be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime as the perpetrator tried to use the tactics of allurement and inducement to force the Hindu victims to give up his professed faith and accept Christianity. The Christian missionaries in this instance, did coerce the Hindus into renunciating their professed faith, which is a direct result of their doctrinal and intrinsic animosity against Hinduism. Due to this specific fact, the case fits into the hate tracker's core category of 'predatory proselytization' and qualifies under the subcategory of 'conversion by inducement.' The other distinct element that qualifies this case as a religiously motivated crime is that there was an attack launched on Bajrang Dal members who reached the venue to oppose the radical activity of illegal conversion. The Christian missionaries took offence to the Jai Shri Ram slogans raised by the Hindu volunteers and began pelting stones at them. In fact, they were the ones to initiate the attack against the Hindu volunteers, who then acted in reprisal leading to the communal clash. Given that the fundamental motivation behind these actions is contempt for the Hindu religion, this instance has been added to the tracker under the following category.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 5 to 10
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
