Forced conversion in J&K: Hindu youth forced to read Kalma and convert to Islam in Srinagar

A video of the Hindu youth identified as Haryana resident Sandeep Kumar reciting Kalima Shahada at a congregation marking Jumu'at-ul-Widaa and forcing them to convert to Islam went viral. In the video, he was asked by Hazratbal Dargah’s Imam and Khateeb Kamal Farooqui if he accepted Islam of his own free will or if he was coerced into converting. To this, the Hindu youth claims he was accepting Islam at his own will. Subsequently, Kamal Farroqui recites the Islamic Kalma and Sandeep repeats after him. The video of the incident soon went viral on social media platforms.

FIR registered

The police took cognisance of the video on Saturday (6th April) and initiated an investigation into the matter. The police termed this shocking development a “forced conversion.” The FIR registered by it at Srinagar’s Nigeen police station says, “According to reliable sources, the video, shared by certain individuals associated with news portals, depicts a person named Sandeep, residing in Haryana, purportedly converting his religion during Friday prayers at the Hazratbal shrine.”

It adds, “Further investigation revealed that Sandeep was allegedly mentally manipulated by the owner of the house, Anayat Muntazir, a resident of Nowhatta, who employed Sandeep as a domestic worker at his home in Srinagar. Anayat reportedly took Sandeep to the Hazratbal shrine, where he allegedly coerced him into reciting the Kalima during congregational prayers to convert his religion.”

The police has invoked Indian Penal Code’s section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant), 298 (Uttering words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings), 153 (giving provocation with intent to cause riot), and 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) against in the case.