Dalit Hindu families lured to adopt Christianity through incentives, brainwashing, and denigration of Hinduism
Amritsar, Punjab, India 
25 June, 2025
Case Summary
In Amritsar, Punjab, nearly 250 Dalit Hindu families were lured to convert to Christianity after being offered free education, healthcare, and financial support. The Christian missionaries who approached them did not just promise a better life, but they also spoke negatively about Hinduism and its deities, planting seeds of doubt and discontent in the hearts of Hindu families. Many families were subjected to subtle manipulation into converting to Christianity. However, the Christian missionaries betrayed these families by not fulfilling their promises, resulting in them returning to Hinduism. According to media reports, an organisation named 'Pavan Valmiki Tirtha Action Committee' stepped in and took the initiative to revert these victim families back to Hinduism. This committee recognised the pain and confusion these Hindu families had experienced. Some of the affected Hindu families shared their ordeal. The head of a Hindu family living in Khuspur village near Rajasansi in Amritsar recounted that they were promised monthly financial assistance and free education for their children. In their financial difficulties, they were swayed by these promises and they converted to Christianity. However, their illusions were shattered within a few months when the promises were not fulfilled. When they questioned the missionaries, they were met with hostility. Realising their mistake, they returned to Hinduism with the help of the Pavan Valmiki Tirtha Action Committee. Following this, the Hindu family said, “Our Sanatan Dharma teaches us tolerance and love, not division. We are now more satisfied than before.” Another family from Bhindi Saidan village in Ajnala described a similar journey. They had converted to Christianity as the missionaries had promised them financial security, medical care, and jobs. One of the family members said, “For a long time, we thought we had made the right choice. But slowly, we saw that the promises were empty. When we looked within, we found the answers in our own faith (Hinduism).” The Pavan Valmiki Tirtha Action Committee helped this family and conducted a Ghar Wapsi, a heartfelt ritual that welcomed the converted Hindus back to their ancestral faith. After returning, the family expressed a renewed sense of purpose and connection to their roots. One of the family members said, “We understood that the path of our ancestors was the right one for us.” Kumar Darshan, chairman of the committee, stated that, “Missionaries targeted the most vulnerable Hindu families who were poor, uneducated, Scheduled Caste families. They convinced them to convert by offering false promises of medical facilities, education, money, and security. When those promises were broken, people felt lost. But when their own (Hindu) community welcomed them back with respect, they remembered that religion is not a transaction; it is the identity of a human being.” He also stated that his committee had helped about 250 families to revert to Hinduism, and they continued to reach out to others who struggled with similar experiences. They also worked to ensure that those who had converted did not misuse the Scheduled Caste quota, encouraging them to either return to their ancestral faith or give up the SC benefits. Kumar Darshan emphasised that the committee’s mission was to help Hindu families heal from the pain of betrayal and return to their own faith. He said, “We showed them the path home, where they were valued and respected."
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. Within this, the subcategory selected is-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 other subcategory selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected is- 'Victim says was brainwashed/groomed' and '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 the 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 proselytisation, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. The other subcategory selected 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. In this case, in Amritsar, Hindus were lured to convert to Christianity through incentives, denigration of Hinduism, and brainwashing. The nature of the conversion efforts and the wider impact on the Hindu community all indicate a targeted action against Hindus as a group. When evangelists or missionaries focus their efforts on converting members of a particular religion, in this case, Hindus, then it demonstrates a fundamental disregard for that faith. Conversion, especially when not based on personal conviction but rather on external persuasion or pressure, is not simply about sharing a different belief system. It is an attempt to undermine the values, traditions, and identity of the Hindu community. In this context, the Christian missionaries specifically targeted Hindus, which suggests a lack of respect for Hinduism and its followers. Such actions are carried out with the intention of stripping Hindu victims of their faith. The act of offering incentives like money, education and healthcare to encourage conversion shows that these incentives were not acts of kindness or charity. Instead, they were calculated moves to exploit vulnerable Hindu families because of their religion. By providing inducements to Hindus to change their faith, the Christian perpetrators were effectively blackmailing those Hindus who were in desperate need of assistance. Such instances are seen in many cases where members of Christian missionary groups target 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. These are not random or isolated incidents, but rather are premeditated efforts to undermine the Hindu faith, persuade Hindus to discard their own faith, and convert to Christianity. Such acts are deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindus and their faith. Further, the Christian missionaries also denigrated Hinduism and manipulated the Hindu victims into turning against their own faith and deities. This makes the religious motivation behind the crime even more evident. 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 actions are designed to demean and undermine the faith of Hindus, fostering an environment of hostility and disrespect. Hindu deities are highly revered by Hindus. Any attempt to insult them is deeply offensive to Hindus. These acts of insulting and brainwashing Hindu victims into turning against their own faith stem from Christian theology, which harbours disdain and even hatred for polytheistic faiths, and which categorises Hindus as ‘polytheists’, thereby fostering hatred against them. This instance again makes the religious motivation behind the crime very evident. The Christian missionaries targeted several Hindu families. This shows a clear pattern of targeting Hindus in a repeated manner. Such repeated actions, especially when they involve inducements, religious denigrations, and brainwashing, are a clear example of a religiously motivated crime because they are directed at undermining the religious and cultural identity of Hindus. Such cases are not isolated instances but rather are well-calculated strategies to convert Hindus to Christianity. Such acts of targeted proselytisation activities stem from inherent hostility towards the victim's professed faith since Abrahamic faiths believe that any non-adherent to the faith is subject to being dehumanised till they convert. Disclaimer: In this case, it is mentioned that members of 250 Hindu families were converted to Christianity. However, the exact number of individuals is not specified. Due to this lack of clarity, we have relied on the most recent Indian census data, which indicates that the average family size in India is approximately 4.8 members per household. To ensure a standardised estimation, we have opted to consider an average of 5 members per family. Based on this approach, the estimated total number of victims in this case is calculated as 1000 individuals.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1000
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 1000
Caste
- SC/ST 1000
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 0
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 1000
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
