Fazil Khan had filed an affidavit in the court for the marriage on 23 January this year. He attended a court hearing on 13 June and then was asked to appear on 27 June. Meanwhile, documents for the marriage were somehow leaked, giving an opportunity to Hindutva groups to post them on social media
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Days after converting to Hinduism for marrying a Hindu girl, a Muslim youth in Madhya Pradesh’s Narsinghpur District, has revealed that he wanted to tie the nuptial knot under the Special Marriage Act without forsaking his religion. But threats and extreme pressure from Hindutva groups forced him to convert to Hinduism.
Last week, Fazil Khan became Aman Rai to marry Sonali, his girlfriend for several years. Media reports claimed that Fazil changed his religion on his own after developing an interest in Hinduism and getting inspired by some Hindu priests. However, he has now revealed that he was threatened with murder by miscreants from Bajrang Dal and other Hindutva groups when documents related to their court marriage were leaked.
“People from Bajrang Dal and Hindutva groups used to threaten me that they would kill me. They also threatened Shiv Kumar Dubey, the man who was a witness in the marriage case, saying that how can a Brahmin marry off a Hindu woman with a Muslim man? Hari Om Raghuvanshi, Dinesh Gujjar, Priyank Jain and others (Hindutva leaders) held a meeting at a dhaba (roadside eatery). I was being pressurised from all sides,” Fazil was quoted by Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar as saying.
Fazil had filed an affidavit in the court for the marriage on 23 January this year. He attended a court hearing on 13 June and then was asked to appear on 27 June. Meanwhile, documents for the marriage were somehow leaked, giving an opportunity to Hindutva groups to post them on social media.
The two witnesses — Dubey and Deepak Kachi — were also threatened with a social boycott if they went ahead with their testimony in court.
Dubey said that when the marriage documents went viral on social media, several persons from the Brahim community started calling him. People from Bajrang Dal and the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) also used to come at his dhaba. They put pressure on him and threatened him with a social boycott.
On 14 June, Dubey said, people from Bajrang Dal and Janjgriti Manch made Sonali meet with some Hindu women who had allegedly suffered after marrying Muslim men. They warned Sonali that her life will also be destroyed if she goes ahead with her marriage to a Muslim.
Family members of Fazil also said that they are not happy with the marriage. Fazil’s mother said she became aware of the conversion and the marriage through some persons known to the family. Earlier she had no objection to the marriage in the court.
Fazil’s mother and brother both said that they would not accept the conversion of Fazil to Aman.