A Muslim lawyer along with his two sons converted to Hinduism in Bihar’s Begusarai district after being harassed by his Muslim neighbours.
According to a report in The Indian Express, 46-year-old Mohammed Anwar and his sons - Mohammed Amir (11-year-old) and Mohammed Shabir (9-year-old) – converted to Hinduism at a temple amid chants of Vedic mantras and sloganeering of “Jai Sri Ram”.
Mohammed Anwar has been renamed Anand Bharti while his two sons have taken the names Aman Bharti and Suman Bharti.
According to the lawyer, who practices at the district court, his wife would convert later.
Anand Bharti (earlier Mohammed Anwar) said that he was being harassed by his Muslim neighbours including a Syed family for last seven months. Anand claimed that he was taunted for not eating beef and donating money for construction of temples.
Anand further said that on July 2, about 40 Muslims threatened him with consequences if he did not follow “basic norms of Islam” which forced him to convert to Hinduism.
“Though I have been living in Pokharia, Begusarai, for over 18 years amid 12 Muslim households in a Muslim-dominated area, a Syed family, which thinks itself as contractor of Islam, has been harassing me for last seven months, sometimes by saying that I hardly offer namaz and at times by leaving bones outside my house,’’ Anand Bharti told The Indian Express.
“I consider myself a humanist. I have given donation for construction of temples… Such things would irritate Muslim neighbours, who often asked why I do not eat beef and put my sons in a madrasa,’’ he added.
Anand made it clear that his decision to convert to Hinduism was not taken under any influence.
“At 46, no one can be able to influence my decision. I had been feeling suffocated by jibes. I have given an affidavit making it clear that I have taken my decision out of my will,’’ he said.
Begusarai SP Ranjeet Mishra told a news channel that the conversion took place with the consent of the family and there was no report of any pressure on them.
