India: More than 1,500 Hindu women reportedly subjected to forced conversion to Islam

Image: Jihad Watch

A startling and deeply troubling testimony that captured widespread national attention came from Jyotirgmay Rai, a Hindu man residing in Bhadohi. Rai alleged that he had unwittingly entered into a marriage with a woman who, while presenting herself as Hindu, was in fact Muslim. According to his account, when he refused to convert to Islam, a figure known as Chhangur Baba issued threats against his two daughters, warning that their lives were in danger. This brave disclosure led Rai to file an official police complaint—a First Information Report (FIR)—which subsequently became the catalyst for a broader investigation into a well-organized network led by Jalaluddin, aka Chhangur Baba. This network was found to be engaged in systematic grooming, coercion, and blackmail to facilitate forced religious conversions.

Detailed investigations uncovered chilling evidence: Jalaluddin maintained meticulously kept “conversion registers,” documenting the names of individuals he claimed to have converted. These registers now constitute pivotal evidence in the ongoing legal proceedings. The case exposed the extent of the racket’s operations, revealing how it preyed on vulnerable sections of society, manipulating them under the guise of spiritual service.

On July 5, law enforcement authorities arrested Jalaluddin along with his close associate Nasreen, who was instrumental in recruiting individuals into the network. Earlier in the year, Nasreen’s husband and son were also detained after police discovered suspicious financial transactions and materials related to forced conversions. This family enterprise cloaked itself in religious legitimacy but was, in reality, running a coercive campaign aimed at religious transformation with the underlying goal of altering demographic balances.

Authorities estimate that the illegal operation led by Jalaluddin resulted in the forced conversion of over 1,500 Hindu women to Islam. Police sources further suggest that when including all non-Muslim individuals—both men and women—the total number of conversions orchestrated by this network runs into the thousands. Multiple victims, including Gunja Gupta from Lucknow, Manvi Sharma from Auraiya, and Neelam, have recounted harrowing experiences of being enticed into fake marriages or conversions. They were then pressured relentlessly to change their religion and names, and coerced to recruit others for monetary rewards. In one particularly distressing case from Balrampur, a woman and her daughter were reportedly forced to convert while the husband was away for work in Mumbai. Authorities are rigorously verifying these testimonies to establish links with the larger syndicate.

This unfolding scandal has also sparked intense scrutiny over the possible complicity or negligence of religious institutions, judicial officers, and digital platforms that may have indirectly or directly enabled such covert conversion operations over an extended period. Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) investigations have led to the arrest of two additional operatives—Sabroz, also known as Imran, and Shahabuddin—who were reportedly responsible for disseminating religious propaganda and conversion videos online. These individuals allegedly targeted impressionable youth, especially those who were less educated, using fake social media profiles and encrypted messaging applications to spread their influence. Police uncovered evidence that many individuals were lured with false promises of employment, housing, or opportunities to migrate abroad. In other cases, victims were subjected to threats of violence or even death to compel compliance.

In response, the Uttar Pradesh government acted decisively to dismantle the physical infrastructure of Jalaluddin’s illicit empire. Authorities demolished a lavish, illegally constructed estate in Madhpur village that spanned 1.3 acres and featured imported marble, unauthorized electricity connections, and private water supplies. The sprawling mansion reportedly functioned as a madrassa and recruitment center for forced conversions. Additionally, the landlord of the urban property where Jalaluddin resided was fined ₹8.5 lakh (approximately US $9,832) for permitting unlawful religious activities that violated property regulations.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath strongly condemned the entire operation, labeling it “anti-national” and asserting that it was part of a larger conspiracy to destabilize Hindu-majority areas by surreptitiously changing demographic compositions through deceitful conversions. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has since taken over aspects of the investigation to trace the financial networks supporting this racket. Officials revealed that funds were being channeled from Gulf countries and Europe through hawala networks and shell NGOs to sustain these operations.

What began as a case centered in Uttar Pradesh has now expanded, with law enforcement agencies in Maharashtra, Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh launching probes into possible connections with local mosques, madrassas, and foreign Islamic charities. As the investigation deepens, the case of Jalaluddin, also known as Chhangur Baba, is emerging as a pivotal test of India’s religious conversion laws and their enforcement. Collaborating closely with national security agencies, the state government is determined to expose what one senior officer described as “just the tip of the iceberg” in a decades-long covert campaign of forced Islamization. The underlying objective, officials warn, aligns with the extremist ideology of Ghazwa-e-Hind—the purported Islamic conquest of India—aimed at fundamentally altering the country’s religious and cultural landscape.

(This Article was originally published by Jihad Watch)