Hindu kids forced to wear hijab and perform on Islamic songs on Eid, teachers and principal suspended after Hindus protest
Guna, Madhya Pradesh, India 
26 September, 2023
Case Summary
On 27 September, a day before Eid Milad-un-Nabi, a dance programme was organised in which all students, including Hindus, were made to wear the hijab and sing Islamic songs in a private school located in Guna, Madhya Pradesh. The incident caused a huge uproar, with several members of Hindu outfits reaching the school to protest against the school management. The incident transpired in Prince Public School located in the Cantt area of Guna where an event was hosted in the institution on 27 September. A video of the same went viral on social media in which the minors, donned in hijabs, were witnessed singing and dancing to Islamic songs. A small student is also seen standing at the back and dancing with a placard in his hand. It has a picture of a mosque drawn on it. Their movements and actions throughout the dance performance resembled the gestures of offering the Namaz (Muslim prayer). The participants looked like kindergarten children whereas other kids were observed sitting in front of the stage. Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists accused that all the pupils who were made to participate in the event were Hindus and were compelled to appear in attires which looked like the burqa and the hijab. Members of Hindu organisations arrived at the school to protest after the footage gained traction online and demanded action against the school. The school management apologised to the Hindu activists after noticing the outrage and provided them with the assurance that no such activity would be held in the future. Subsequently, the teacher who organised the programme and the principal of the school were removed by the school administration.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This particular case has been classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under the subcategory: Proselytisation by brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, under the core category of Predatory Proselytisation because of the various distinct components that demonstrate the perpetrator's bias against the Hindu faith and the deliberate attempt to alienate the victims from their Hindu identity. 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 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 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 specific case, it is evident from the details that the Hindu victims were minors which essentially means that the element of consent and genuine change of conscience was missing ab initio. It is a well-established fact that children are more susceptible to manipulation since they are still developing emotionally, cognitively, and socially. Their brains are not fully matured, making them more vulnerable to influence and less capable of critically evaluating information. Moreover, subtle manipulation tactics can be difficult to detect, especially when they are employed by trusted authority figures in positions of influence. This makes it challenging for parents, to identify and address instances of religious manipulation in schools. Since the underlying offence in this case is against children of a specific faith and involves subtle tactics of indoctrination, which obviously stems from a bias against the Hindu faith, this case has been documented as a hate crime.
Victim Details
Total Victim
14
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 14
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 14
Age Group
- Minor 14
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Others
Perpetrators Range
N/A
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
