Six members of a Hindu family were reported to have converted to Islam in Bhojpura town in Bareily district of Uttar Pradesh, following continued boycott and ill treatment meted out to them by their own community members for the last 15 years.
According to a report, it has sparked tension in the area leading the family to take shelter at another place. The report mentioned that some communal organisations continued pressurising the newly-converted family to go back to their religion of birth. However, the family members were said to be fully satisfied with the religion of their choice and rejected any idea to retract at any cost.
Urdu daily Hindustan Express reported that Abdul Rehman, earlier known as Upi Ram, who is head of the family, said that he was blamed by his own community of causing the death of Budh Sen with the help of black magic. However, the deceased died after prolonged illness. In a move, later his family was excommunicated and he was blamed for causing his death. Rehman said the continued boycott and unfair treatment meted out to him and his family by his own community inspired him to change his religion.
He further said that Islam is a true religion and it does not believe such things. “Now I have begun learning the Holy Qur’an and prayer and I am proud to be a Muslim,” he said. The six members of his family who converted to Islam are his elder son Abdul Rehman (earlier Ram Bahadur), daughter-in-law Fatima Qadri (earlier Kajal), grandson Ubaid-ur-Rehman Qadri (earlier Manoj), granddaughter Zainab Qadri (earlier Bimla Devi) and his wife Ruqayya Qadri (earlier Jayanti Devi).