On Saturday, a Muslim man named Shaikh Jafar Qureshi renounced Islam and accepted Hinduism in the Mandasaur district of Madhya Pradesh. The 46-year-old Sheikh was given the initiation to Hinduism by performing ritual worship by Mahamandaleshwar Swami Chidambaranand Saraswati at the Pashupatinath temple. From May 28 Shaikh Jafar Qureshi will be known by his new name Chetan Singh Rajput.
According to the reports, the ritual worship was organized by Mahamandaleshwar Swami Chidambaranand Saraswati of the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad Mahanirvani Sangh. Swami who gave Qureshi his new name asked to him clean his body with the cow dung and the holy gau mutra. Mahamandaleshwar Swami Chidambaranand Saraswati said that the religious ritual was not conducted for conversion, but ‘gharvapsi’ (homecoming). “All the Muslims in India were originally Hindu and were converted. In such a situation case, Sheikh Jafar has returned to his first religion which was Hinduism”, he added.
Qureshi also meanwhile termed the process as ‘gharvapsi’. He said that he has been following the Hindu religion since his childhood and that he never liked the Islamist people who possess fanatical thinking. “I am happy now that I am a Hindu. I have been visiting temples since I was a child. Later I had started performing Hindu rituals. During the time of Navratri also I used to keep fast for 9 days”, he said.
He added that he was married to a Hindu woman and was following the Hindu religion completely. “Today I’ll say I have just got a new name and that this religious ritual worship was just a formality. I was a Hindu and I will remain a Hindu. Now I feel complete after officially adopting the Hindu religion”, he added.
Elaborating his feeling over having a new name, Chetan Singh Rajput said, “Forefathers of Muslims were Rajput. So I decided to consider Rajput surname for myself. I am devotee of Lord Shiva and was fascinated by Sanatan Dharma since childhood”, he reietrated. He also stated that now he will support and encourage all those people who want to adopt Hinduism as a religion.
Earlier last year, Waseem Rizvi aka Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi had also renounced Islam and accepted Hinduism as his religion. He had said that a large number of Muslims wanted to embrace the Sanatan Dharma but were scared of retribution by the Islamic radical elements.
