Rampur (Uttar Pradesh): Around 80-odd Muslims belonging to the Dhobi community, have reverted to Hinduism on Sunday. They attended a ceremony of Ghar Wapasi (coming home). They said that now since Azam Khan is in jail, they can safely return to Sanatan Dharm. SP leader Azam Khan had harassed and forced them to convert to Islam earlier.
The news of intimidating Hindus towards conversion has not surprised anybody who knows him. The notorious SP leader is a staunch follower of Mualana Mohammad Ali Jauhar. The Maulana was a pan-Islamist and one of the main leaders of the notorious Khilafat movement. He was also, the co-founder of Muslim League as well as Jamia Millia Islamia university.
These Dalits did the Ghar Wapasi in a ceremony conducted at Yog Sadhna Ashram in Muzaffarnagar. Maharaj Yashvir conducted their Ghar Wapasi. He sprinkled the holy Gangajal on them as a symbol of purification. The participants wore janaeu and recited Gayatri mantra during the auspicious ceremony. All of them offered ahuti to the sacred fire of the yajna.
Speaking to the newspaper, these victims alleged that the goons of Khan used to threaten them. They used to scare Hindus saying that Azam Khan will snatch their land if they did not convert to Islam. Islamists had also promised benefits to them after they accepted Islam, but they did not receive any. The victims also said that lakhs of people faced hardships due to Khan’s terror. Now, with the SP leader in jail, they feel safe and felt happy to do Ghar Wapasi. They reverted to the Hindu fold under the changed circumstances in Rampur, which was the bastion of Khan.
For the first time in the Rampur history, a Hindu won from this assembly seat in the recently-held by poll, where BJP’s Aakash Saxena defeated SP’s Asim Raja, a protege of Khan. Khan himself could not contest the election as courts sentenced him a three-year imprisonment. Courts found him guilty of delivering a hate speech during the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign.
Hate speech is something of a lesser crime committed by Khan compared to his other activities. He has committed crimes as serious as land grabbing, forgery, book theft, statue theft, goat theft, buffalo theft, power theft, and several others. Several bureaucrats and police officers have accused him of intimidation. Once he had his government suspend an IAS officer who had acted against sand mafia.
Despite the staggering number of criminal cases against him, Khan is a free bird now after Congress leader, Kapil Sibal fought for his bail in the Supreme Court.