New Delhi: Police in Uttar Pradesh’s Hamirpur district have arrested five Muslim men on charges of unlawful conversion after they conducted a celebratory ceremony and prayers to commemorate the death anniversary of a Muslim spiritual leader inside the house of a Dalit family.
The family – comprising one Urmila and her husband Ajit Verma – had got a mazaar (shrine) constructed inside their house in Hamirpur’s Maudaha area allegedly on the suggestion of the accused persons as they believed that praying to a ‘saint’ would cure Urmila’s illnesses and end their woes.
On the night of January 10, when the Dalit family was conducting an “urs” (Islamic religious ceremony commemorating the death anniversary of a saint) inside their house, the event was disrupted by members of the Hindutva group Bajrang Dal. These activists also brought the ceremony to the attention of the police and accused the Muslim men of trying to convert the family into Islam.
“An urs programme was going on at the house when we reached there at 2.30 am in the night. Chadar poshi (ritual offering of a sacred sheet of cloth) was happening at the shrine. Some maulanas were giving speeches. They were trying to convert the Dalit family to Islam by promising to cure their illness and offering them money,” Ashish Singh, former convenor of the Bajrang Dal district unit, told a local television channel.
Four of the Muslim men were arrested on January 10 itself and one, a day later.
The five persons arrested by the police were identified as Nooruddin (55), his nephew Meraj Hasan (32), Khalif (42), Irfan (46) and Mohammad Hanif (52). They were booked for criminal intimidation and slapped with Sections 3 and 5 (1) of The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021.
Also read: A Birthday Party, a Legal Battle and an Acquittal: The Story of a False Conversion Case
While Urmila did not make any adverse comments against the five men while speaking to local media, the FIR was registered on a complaint submitted in her name. The Wire has a copy of the FIR, in which Urmila said she had come in touch with Nooruddin, originally a native of Banda, while trying to find a treatment for a prolonged illness she had been suffering from for over two years. “We also had trouble in our house. I would go from one place to another to get myself examined and during this time I met Nooruddin,” said Urmila.
She said that Nooruddin asked her to visit a mazaar and promised her that once she did so, she would feel better and all her troubles would be resolved.
On one occasion, Urmila said, Nooruddin came to her house with his nephew Meraj and Khaliq, and built a mazaar in one corner of the house. “He said ‘You worship this and conduct an urs, all your troubles will go away’,” said Urmila.
From time to time, Nooruddin and his associates would offer her family allurements and ask them to convert to Islam along with their relatives, alleged Urmila. She also said that the Muslim men had asked her to hold an ‘urs’ every year.
The January 10 ‘urs’ programme was held at Urmila’s house by Nooruddin and his associates. They also read the faateha (a Muslim prayer), said Urmila.
She alleged that the five men made promises of money against the family’s conversion to Islam.
“’You people belong to a lower caste. You will fall into a higher caste in the Muslim religion. You will continue to get money from the Muslim religion and you will not have any problems’ they told me,” said Urmila, as per the FIR.
“On the insistence of these people and after being tempted by them, we agreed to talk about religious conversion in a hushed tone. But after a lot of thought, we realised that these people would mislead us and make us convert from Hindu religion to Islam. Then, my husband and I decided that we will not convert our religion. We had come under their influence,” she said.
Manoj Kumar Gupta, Additional Superintendent of Police, Hamirpur, said that police reached the spot after receiving information there were attempts being made for “an illegal religious conversion” at some person’s house in Maudaha.
Talking to a Hamirpur-based local YouTube channel outside the Maudaha police station, Ajit Verma and Urmila denied that they had converted to Islam.
“He (Nooruddin) asked me to do an urs every year. I have no idea what an urs is. I am a Hindu, how can I worship like a Muslim?” said Urmila.
“We are Hindus and will remain Hindus,” said Ajit Verma.
