UP: 'Neglected' by their community, Muslim family converts to Hinduism

In search of justice for his dead son, Akhtar Ali along with his 12 family members participated in a 'havan' and announced that they all were accepting Hinduism.

In search of justice for his dead son, Akhtar Ali along with his 12 family members participated in a 'havan' and announced that they all were accepting Hinduism. Photo: ABP News

BAGHPAT: In search of justice for his dead son, Akhtar Ali along with his 12 family members participated in a 'havan' and announced that they all were accepting Hinduism. Ali, who changed his name to Dharam Singh, claimed the Muslim community has done injustice to him and his family. Ali's family relocated to Niwara village about a year ago where his youngest son Gulshan, who had a garments' shop, was killed by some unknown persons. His body was found hanged in a highly suspicious condition inside the shop. The family alleged that some miscreants from their community had killed Gulshan. "We didn't get justice. They are powerful people, who paid money to the police and threatened our family," Ali said while talking about those who he alleged had killed his son. He said the injustice meted out to his family by the Muslims has forced him to take this step. "They killed my son and termed it as suicide. Even police didn't help us," Ali said. Ali's son Dilshad said there were around 3000 Muslims in the village but no one came forward to assist them. "When they all turned their back on our family, we decided to accept Hinduism," he said. Members of the Hindu community, who were present during the conversion rituals, said they welcome Ali's decision and will support them in getting justice for their deceased son. Ali's third son Naushad, who is now Narendra Singh, claimed the Uttar Pradesh police has swung into action after the family adopted Hinduism and nabbed the accused. "They (police) called us up today and said they have detained the murderers. Before this they were roaming freely," he said. The family members claimed that when they sent the victim’s body for postmortem, police came out with a report of suicide. On October 1, they submitted affidavits to the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Baraut district for registering their conversion. The Hindu community then carried out a ‘hawan’ in their village on October 2 for their conversion.