Hindu students prohibited from wearing Kalava and Tilak in Missionary school
Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, India 
27 June, 2023
Case Summary
On June 28, a day before Bakrid, the principal of St Pius missionary school in Khandawa, Madhya Pradesh, called some Muslim students on stage to read the Kalma and Namaz. When parents of other students came to know about this, they approached the Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders complaining about the same. A large group of VHP workers, in turn, then met the Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Arvind Chauhan demanding a thorough investigation and revoking of the school’s license. The VHP has also demanded that the school’s CCTV footage be recovered to probe into the incident. The Hindu organizations accused the school of carrying out conversion activities and teaching the Bible. They also said Hindu students are prohibited from wearing cultural symbols like Tilak, Kalava, Kada, earrings, payals, bindi, etc on the school campus.
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 'Restriction/ban on Hindu practices' under which the sub-category selected, as per case details, is 'Restriction on expression of Hindu identity'. An example of the state-affected prejudicial and targeted orders against the Hindu community would be a government denying the right of a Hindu or a group of Hindus to hold a religious procession owing to the animosity of non-Hindu groups. Denial of the religious right of the Hindus to assuage the non-Hindu group which harbours animosity to a point where it could lead to violence against Hindus is not only a failure of law and order but is a prejudicial order against Hindus, denying them their fundamental rights to express their religious identity. An example of a hate crime against Hindus by a non-Hindu would be a non-Hindu institution forcing its Hindu employees to abandon religious symbols that a Hindu would wear as an expression of faith owing to inherent prejudice against the faith professed by the victim or a non-Hindu group of people restricting a Hindu group from constructing a place of worship simply because the demography of the area in which the temple is being built is dominated by non-Hindus. Such actions are driven by religious animosity and/or prejudice against Hindus and their faith and would therefore be categorized as a hate crime. 'Predatory proselytisation' is the second main category under which this case has been classified and 'Proselytisation by brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination' is the subcategory selected within this category. 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 case, a missionary school was prohibiting its Hindu students from wearing their religious identities like kalava, tilak etc to school. In Hinduism, the Kalava and tilak hold deep religious, cultural, and spiritual significance. It symbolises protection, blessings, unity, and commitment to spiritual and ethical principles. Its use across various rituals and ceremonies underscores its importance in the Hindu way of life. This act of not allowing students to wear their religious symbols disrupts the students' ability to freely practice and express their religious beliefs. Such acts are often seen as attempts to assert dominance or express hostility towards Hinduism. Further, the same school, which disallowed its Hindu students from observing religious freedom, encouraged students of the Muslim community to read Namaz and Kalma to commemorate their Muslim festival. All educational institutions are required to treat every religious community equally and with respect. This particular Missionary school's decision can only be interpreted as discriminatory and pandering to the minority community. Further, every individual has the right to practice their religious faith and restricting someone from doing that can also be considered a prejudicial order denying the Hindu community its fundamental rights. Since the arbitrary action taken against the Hindu students was prejudicial to the rights of Hindus and stemmed from animosity and prejudice against Hindu beliefs, this case is being categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime. Further, it is also important to note that the accused, who were teachers in this case, subtly tried to influence the impressionable minds of the non-Muslim children by making sure that they conform to Islamic rituals and principles. They also tried to alienate these children from their own religion by forbidding them to wear Hindu religious symbols like Kalava and bindis. The victims here 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 under the above categories.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
