On Thursday (June 15), a Muslim man named Fazil Khan willingly converted his religion from Islam to Hinduism and married a Hindu girl. The man married his love Sonali Rai and accepted Hinduism as his new religion at Shriram temple in Madhya Pradesh’s Kareli district. The man will now no more be identified as Fazil Khan but as Aman Rai.
Narsinghpur News : मुस्लिम युवक ने सनातन धर्म अपनाकर राम मंदिर में किया हिंदू प्रेमिका से विवाह#NarsinghpurNews #MadhyapradeshNews #Muslim #Sanatan #Hindu #Gadarwara #Chichli #Kareli #Amgaonhttps://t.co/izcMqaZbh1 pic.twitter.com/k7JT4MKydn
— NaiDunia (@Nai_Dunia) June 16, 2023
According to reports, a Janeu Sanskar ceremony was performed on Fazil Khan amid religious chants at the Ram Mandir. He then changed his name to Aman Rai swearing by the Ramcharitmanas, a revered Hindu-epic scripture on the life of Ram.
In the video of the event shared by IBC24 News, Fazil Khan, who performed ghar wapsi, is heard confirming that he reverted to Hinduism of his own volition. He said that Sanatan Dharma has always interested him. “Hindu caste mujhe acha lagta tha, isliye mein wapsi ki” (I love the Hindu religion that is why I did Gharwapsi), Fazil Khan is heard saying.
Fazil Khan added that his father was a Hindu by birth but he had converted to Islam and became Sheikh Abdul in order to marry his Muslim mother.
Speaking about the incident, Bajrang Dal district head Devendra Sharma also confirmed that Fazil Khan’s father had converted to Islam to marry a Muslim woman and he too is now thinking of reverting to Hinduism.
Fazil Khan further described the experience of the Janeu sanskar ceremony, performed as part of the ritual to revert to Hinduism in front of Lord Ram’s idol as incredibly gratifying. He said he was happy that he had accepted Hinduism.
Narsinghpur News : मुस्लिम युवक ने सनातन धर्म अपनाकर राम मंदिर में किया हिंदू प्रेमिका से विवाह#NarsinghpurNews #MadhyapradeshNews #Muslim #Sanatan #Hindu #Gadarwara #Chichli #Kareli #Amgaonhttps://t.co/izcMqaZbh1 pic.twitter.com/oZV0CV53lv
— NaiDunia (@Nai_Dunia) June 16, 2023
He added that his desire to marry Sonali Rai, the woman he had been dating for the last five years, and his interest in the Sanatan Dharma led him to convert his religion from Islam to Hinduism.
Fazil Khan, who lives in Chichli in the Gadarwara tehsil of the district, and Sonali Rai who lives in Amgaon hamlet in the Kareli police station both met in the Damru Valley Shiv Temple in Gadarwara about five years ago. Following that, they both started talking and fell in love with each other. They eventually decided to get married.
Sonali Rai told the media that Fazil Khan had expressed his desire to revert to Hinduism, which is why she agreed to marry him.
While Fazil Khan has categorically said that he had accepted Hinduism of his own volition, various vernacular media outlets like Nai Dunia and Jagran tried to give a twist to the incident by suggesting that Fazil Khan took the decision to revert to Hinduism under duress. These media houses reported that Fazil Khan was under pressure after a copy of his marriage application went viral on social media and Netizens began criticising him for his decision to enter into an interfaith marriage.
How media twisted the incident to portray that Fazil Khan was pressurised to revert to Hinduism
These media reports suggested that the couple had submitted an application for marriage in the district in accordance with the Special Marriage Act of 1954, a copy of which was pasted on the marriage registrar board.
From there, these media outlets said that the application letter’s picture somehow reached social media platforms and quickly went viral. Internet users soon began talking about boycotting and organising a condolence meeting for those who were the witnesses to the marriage. After seeing these social media posts, Fazil Khan got worried and decided that instance to convert to Hinduism, the reports said.
Speaking about the aforementioned marriage application, Priyank Jain, the Yuva Morch district president confirmed to the media that the couple did submit a marriage application around January 21, 2023, but, somehow, the marriage did not take place and now the couple has gotten married as per Hindu customs after Fazil Khan reverted to Hinduism out of his own free will.
Fazil Khan, in the above video, can also be heard confirming that he accepted Hinduism of his own volition because he was interested in Sanatan Dharma. Fazil Khan’s words clearly invalidate the assertion’s made by these media outlets.
