Bihar: Christian man beaten up on allegation of forced conversion
The words of the man speaking from behind the camera makes it clear that the attackers were hardliners attacking a man for “insulting” and “converting” Lord Ram.
A video has surfaced online that shows a man being manhandled and beaten up by a few men amidst a field. As per Twitter account called @HateDetector, this video is from Jandaha in Vaishali, Bihar where these men are Bajrang Dal members beating up a Christian man over allegations of religious conversion
A man can be heard saying, “whoever plays around (insults) our Ram, we will destroy him. Whoever tries to convert our Ram, we won’t spare him.” When an elderly woman tried to intervene, to stop the vigilantes from beating up the man, the man, presumably behind the camera, said, “this woman is intruding, hit her first.” She was pushed around. She kept begging them to not beat up the innocent man.
The man is seen being dragged around, his sweater being pulled out, while the two women try their best to protect him, begging for mercy.
This is from #Jandaha, #Vaishali, #Bihar.#Hindu far-right #BajrangDal members thrashed a #Christian man over the allegations of religious conversions. pic.twitter.com/B0dAU5raIw
— Hate Detector 🔍 (@HateDetectors) January 23, 2023
To find out whether such claims of forcible conversions are in fact true, Citizens for Justice and Peace carried out extensive research. Hinduism saw the largest increase in new converts, according to statistics collected by The New Indian Express collated from government gazettes that contain official figures for the year 2020. Hinduism, says this analysis, was “adopted” by 47% of those who converted to a different religion in Kerala during the referred year. 241 of the 506 people who reported their change of religion with the government were Christians or Muslims who converted to Hinduism. Islam attracted 144 converts overall, compared to 119 converts to Christianity.
The majority of Dalit Christians, or Christian Cheramars, Christian Sambavas, and Christian Pulayas, made up 72% of the new Hindu converts. It was clear that the absence of quota and reservation advantages had led to the re-admittance of Hinduism by many Dalit Christians. Christianity lost 242 believers to the other two religions and attracted only 119 persons. Islam gained 144 new believers and lost 40 during the period. Buddhism received two new believers who switched from Hinduism.
In 2022, as many as 302 attacks against Christians reportedly took place in the first seven months, according to the United Christian Forum (UCF), which has collected data on the basis of distress calls it received on its helpline numbers. UCF’s data shows that the state of Uttar Pradesh has reported over 80 such instances – the highest – followed by Chhattisgarh, which reported 60 such cases.
CJP’s detailed analysis may be read here.
Related:
Anti-Conversion Laws: Are forced conversions a myth or reality?
Christian Group in Bengaluru Approach the DG of Police to seek protection against targeted violence
Over 300 attacks on Christians reported this year, over 2000 women, Adivasis and Dalits injured
Survey of Churches, anti conversion laws only empower radical mobs: Archbishop Peter Machado
Hate watch: Christians attacked during Sunday mass in Chhattisgarh; 9 hospitalised
Bihar: Christian man beaten up on allegation of forced conversion
The words of the man speaking from behind the camera makes it clear that the attackers were hardliners attacking a man for “insulting” and “converting” Lord Ram.
A video has surfaced online that shows a man being manhandled and beaten up by a few men amidst a field. As per Twitter account called @HateDetector, this video is from Jandaha in Vaishali, Bihar where these men are Bajrang Dal members beating up a Christian man over allegations of religious conversion
A man can be heard saying, “whoever plays around (insults) our Ram, we will destroy him. Whoever tries to convert our Ram, we won’t spare him.” When an elderly woman tried to intervene, to stop the vigilantes from beating up the man, the man, presumably behind the camera, said, “this woman is intruding, hit her first.” She was pushed around. She kept begging them to not beat up the innocent man.
The man is seen being dragged around, his sweater being pulled out, while the two women try their best to protect him, begging for mercy.
This is from #Jandaha, #Vaishali, #Bihar.#Hindu far-right #BajrangDal members thrashed a #Christian man over the allegations of religious conversions. pic.twitter.com/B0dAU5raIw
— Hate Detector 🔍 (@HateDetectors) January 23, 2023
To find out whether such claims of forcible conversions are in fact true, Citizens for Justice and Peace carried out extensive research. Hinduism saw the largest increase in new converts, according to statistics collected by The New Indian Express collated from government gazettes that contain official figures for the year 2020. Hinduism, says this analysis, was “adopted” by 47% of those who converted to a different religion in Kerala during the referred year. 241 of the 506 people who reported their change of religion with the government were Christians or Muslims who converted to Hinduism. Islam attracted 144 converts overall, compared to 119 converts to Christianity.
The majority of Dalit Christians, or Christian Cheramars, Christian Sambavas, and Christian Pulayas, made up 72% of the new Hindu converts. It was clear that the absence of quota and reservation advantages had led to the re-admittance of Hinduism by many Dalit Christians. Christianity lost 242 believers to the other two religions and attracted only 119 persons. Islam gained 144 new believers and lost 40 during the period. Buddhism received two new believers who switched from Hinduism.
In 2022, as many as 302 attacks against Christians reportedly took place in the first seven months, according to the United Christian Forum (UCF), which has collected data on the basis of distress calls it received on its helpline numbers. UCF’s data shows that the state of Uttar Pradesh has reported over 80 such instances – the highest – followed by Chhattisgarh, which reported 60 such cases.
CJP’s detailed analysis may be read here.
Related:
Anti-Conversion Laws: Are forced conversions a myth or reality?
Christian Group in Bengaluru Approach the DG of Police to seek protection against targeted violence
Over 300 attacks on Christians reported this year, over 2000 women, Adivasis and Dalits injured
Survey of Churches, anti conversion laws only empower radical mobs: Archbishop Peter Machado
Hate watch: Christians attacked during Sunday mass in Chhattisgarh; 9 hospitalised
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