… And other converted brides with new names. Madhuparna Das travels to 4 Bengal districts and finds out how Hindu groups sheltered and ‘purified’ these Muslim women before marriage to Hindus

Sister married a muslim, brother ‘paid them back’ Ummekulchum Khatun, 22, now Antara Bachar

Ummekulchum married Rajshekhar Bachar, an RSS worker from Sundarban village in Minakhan, North 24-Parganas. He said he contacted Tapan Ghosh of Hindu Samhati and was told to go ahead. The bride converted to Hinduism after she eloped. The suddhikaran was facilitated by Ghosh, she says. “I call him my Baba. Without him, we would not have survived. My family would have taken me back forcibly. I am very happy now.” Rajshekar runs a foodstall. “I was a student of Nimpith Ramkrishna Ashram. One of my sisters married a Muslim youth. But after she converted to Islam, she was confined to her house. She was never allowed to leave home. Her husband is my wife’s cousin. I paid them back in the same coin,” he said.

Sheltered and given a job Ispa Naiya, 20,  now Chhanda Sardar

She runs a small tailoring shop in Mandirbazar, South 24-Parganas. The Hindu Samhati helped open the shop. She eloped with Chandan Sardar when she was a little under 18. The Samhati sheltered her until she became an adult. “His parents did not accept me but came around later. My father filed a complaint against us. I lodged a counter-complaint against him. Both cases are still on. My life has changed but I am happy,” she said. The Hindu Samhati arranged a job for her husband as a guard with a private company. “They met my family and told them marrying a Muslim girl was a service to Hinduism,” Chandan said.

‘They told me I should return to my original religion’ Nirupa Sultana, 23, now Rupa Konra

A second-year college student, she converted to Hinduism on October 17, 2014. She now lives with husband Gopal Konra in Sankrail, Howrah. “I fell in love with Gopal Konra but lacked the courage to give up my religion. I was taken to Tapan Ghosh of Hindu Samhati and he told me my original religion was Hinduism and I should return to it, spend my life with my love. I ran away from home and lived in a shelter. I am happy now. I go to college everyday. My family has disowned me. I have accepted that too,” she said.

Both her names mean the same, VHP ‘uncle’ told her Roshna, 20, now Jyotsna

She married 30-year-old Biswajit Sarkar, a farmer in a village near Baharampur in Murshidabad district. Roshna had to undergo suddhikaran in July 2014. Husband Biswajit switched loyalties from the Trinamool Congress to the BJP. “We were kept in a VHP shelter. They facilitated our marriage and helped my family. I did not want to change my name. But the VHP jethu (uncle) told me Jyotsna and Roshna mean the same —moonlight,” she said. Father Aminuddin Sheikh lodged a case against her. Husband Biswajit said: “I liked her a lot but I was scared of the communal angle. Since I lived in a place where the minority were in majority, I was hesitant. But the VHP supported me and took us to a shelter. Once things settled, we returned home.”

She converted to Hinduism, his family to BJP Kashmira, 19, now Kavita Mondal

The teenager wants to study again. She converted to Hinduism last year after eloping with Pradyut Mondal, owner of a small shop in Baharampur town in Murshidabad district. “I loved Kashmira. I knew bringing her home would be difficult,” he said. “But it was also a service to my society. I approached the local VHP and they assured me that everything would be arranged.” Kashmira said: “I was a minor when I decided to marry Pradyut. My family would have never accepted it. The VHP told us to wait till I was 18. So I waited.” Pradyut’s family members are now BJP supporters “out of loyalty and gratitude”.

‘Entitled to all social, legal, religious rights as a Hindu’ Sabina Yasmin, 27, now Nandini Makhal

She is from Mollarchawk in the Sunderbans and married Babloo Makhal of Tulsirhat, South 24-Parganas. She was an MA student, he a high school dropout. She was given a suddhikaran certificate by the Bharat Sevashram Sangha. It states, “Sabina has already renounced her Islam religion by swearing affidavit on 06.06.14 in the court of the judicial magistrate, 1st class, Sealdah, desiring to accept and adopt Hindu religion. She having approached us on 20.06.14 for her conversion to Hinduism on undergoing necessary ceremony, we from Bharat Sevashram Sangha held Vedic ceremonial rites and got her converted to Hinduism as per her own free will and volition on 21.06.14… Henceforth, she will be entitled to enjoy all religious, social and legal rights as a Hindu.”

Babloo helps his father Chandrashekhar in his fishery business. Chandrashekhar said his 34-member family erected a wall to cordon off their rooms as “they did not wish to see the face of my Muslim daughter-in-law”. “I was beaten up. But the brothers of RSS and Hindu Samhati told me my acceptance would be a service to Hindu society since I had brought home a Muslim girl as a Hindu bahu.” Sabina’s father Abdul Kader, a doctor, said he will never accept the marriage. Now Nandini, Sabina has severed all ties with her family.

Father, father-in-law both joined BJP Rukaiya Khatun, 20, now Rumpa Chatterjee

She eloped with Kartick Chatterjee, son of Hindu priest Haridas Chatterjee of Panchghara village in South 24-Parganas. The Hindu Samhati took them to a shelter in Kolkata. “There were three couples with us. We stayed there almost six months. Tapan Ghosh of Hindu Samhati told me he would settle everything. Since then I have called him Baba. On September 9, 2014, we got married,” Rumpa said.

Her father-in-law joined the BJP after the wedding.  “I performed a yagna. I told my daughter-in-law to cut ties with her family.” Her father Sirajuddin Mollah too left the SUCI and joined the BJP for “safety”.

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‘Love jihad’ gets a Bengal reply: Bahu lao, Beti bachao, ‘purify’ Muslim brides

 

 

Rebeka Khatun is now Meenakshi Naskar in Lakshminarayanpur, South 24 Parganas. (Express Photo by: Subham Dutta)

Written by Madhuparna Das | Kolkata | Updated: March 13, 2015  

The din over the ‘ghar wapsi’ reconversion campaign in the north and west may have dropped many decibels after Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined “the undeniable right” of an individual’s choice of religion. But in the east, the RSS and its affiliates are experimenting with another conversion programme — where, instead of hounding a Hindu-Muslim couple, they are actively facilitating their union. The only condition: the bride, in this case, is a Muslim who becomes a Hindu after a “suddhikaran” (purification) programme. Also read: Sabina to Nandini, Kashmira to Kavita, Rukaiya to Rumpa… In West Bengal, especially in districts where the BJP has made significant electoral gains — at the expense of a crumbling Left and Congress — the Hindutva brotherhood, from Vishwa Hindu Parishad to Hindu Samhati, Hindu Jagran Manch to Bharat Sevashram Sangha, have stepped up a campaign they call “Bahu lao, Beti bachao” (bring a daughter-in-law, save a daughter), saying this is their answer to “love jihad.” In sharp contrast to their hounding of Hindu woman-Muslim man couples, these groups actively “shelter, arrange” the marriage of Hindu man-Muslim woman couples. VHP leader Badal Das, who is in charge of his organisation’s role in the campaign, estimates that at least 500 Muslim and Christian women have “become Hindus through marriage” in the last one year.Over two months, The Indian Express travelled through South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, Howrah and Birbhum — the rise of the BJP in these areas has coincided with the spread of this campaign — and met several couples who openly credit the Hindu groups for their marriage. All women have adopted Hindu names and their families have been “advised” to join the BJP for their “own safety”.

Hindu Samhati chief Tapan Ghosh said they were “fighting the menace called love jihad… Muslim boys trap Hindu girls into marriage… our effort is to rescue the victims of love jihad and bring Muslim girls to Hindu homes”. Achintya Biswas, Jadavpur University professor who heads the VHP golden jubilee celebrations committee, said: “If a Hindu boy can reconvert a Muslim girl to Hinduism, it is considered a pious act. We want to break this trend of a Hindu girl getting married to a Muslim boy.” One such woman who had to undergo “suddhikaran” to become a Hindu is 21-year-old Rebeka Khatun, now Meenakshi Naskar. She lives in Lakshminarayanpur, South 24 Parganas. She does not respond immediately if you call out Renu, her nickname, or Meenakshi. She was given these names by her husband’s parents and the Hindu Samhati which arranged her marriage to Madhumangal Naskar last year. They married “after one year of courtship”. Also read: Meet the Parivar behind these marriages Madhumangal’s father, Haradhan Chandra Naskar, did not object. He and his family joined the BJP. Her father, Mosaraf Sheikh, was also told to join the party for the “safety and security” of the couple. “I was told to convert to Hinduism if I wanted to marry him. I eloped since my community would have never allowed a Muslim girl to marry a Hindu boy. Madhumangal approached the Hindu Samhati. They assured us they would settle everything if I converted to Hinduism. I agreed,” she said. “We were kept in a shelter in Kolkata by the Hindu Samhati. After a few months, I came here. I declared myself a Hindu and submitted an affidavit. His parents organised a ‘havan’ for my ‘suddhikaran’ (purification). I married him as per Hindu rituals,” she said. Father-in-law Haradhan, the village healer, said: “I asked her father to remain on good terms with the BJP. I was a member of SUCI but I am now in the BJP. Her father comes to meet her at night since others in the village might not approve.” Father Mosaraf Sheikh said: “Initially, we resisted. But my daughter eloped and embraced Hinduism. She is happy now.”

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Meet the Parivar behind these marriages

 

 

Sachindra Sinha, VHP

Written by Madhuparna Das | Kolkata | Published on:March 13, 2015 

From Vishwa Hindu Parishad to Hindu Samhati, Bharat Sevashram Sangha to Hindu Jagran Manch, a common thread binds them all — a campaign to counter ‘love jihad’ across West Bengal. Calling it the “bahu lao, beti bachao” campaign, these organisations have been urging Hindu young men to bring home Muslim or Christian brides while “protecting Hindu girls from falling in love or getting married to Muslim, Christian boys”. And they speak in chorus: “It is a fight against the menace of love jihad. By going in for such a marriage, a Hindu boy is doing a service to society.” Vishwa Hindu Parishad Badal Das is in charge of the VHP contribution to the “bahu lao, beti bachao” campaign which he says is part of their paribartan programme. He said at least 500 Muslim and Christian women converted to Hinduism “legally and religiously” after marrying Hindu men in the last one year, and the programme was “most successful” in Bengal. Sachindra Sinha, in charge of the VHP state unit, said: “We have also intensified social activities to push for an anti-conversion law.” Jugal Kishoreji, VHP general secretary in charge of Dharm Prasar, said: “If a Hindu boy marries a Muslim girl, we make her undergo suddhikaran (purification). Their children will be Hindus. So it is a service to society.” Achintya Biswas, professor at Jadavpur University and president of the VHP golden jubilee committee, said: “Since there is a friendly government at the Centre, we are working comfortably. Our leaders have directed us to remove caste lines in Hindu society, be involved in marital ties. If a Hindu boy can reconvert a Muslim girl to Hinduism, it is considered a pious act. We want to break this trend of a Hindu girl getting married to a Muslim boy.” Hindu Samhati

Tapan Ghosh, Hindu SamhatiHindu Samhati founder Tapan Ghosh was an RSS leader once. He floated his outfit when he thought the RSS was being “soft”. Ghosh said the Hindu Samhati was “fighting the menace called love jihad”.“Society is in peril. We are fighting against atrocities on Hindu families. Hindu girls are being made victims of love jihad. Muslim boys trap Hindu girls into marriage. Love jihad has become a tool to traffic Bengali Hindu girls to West Asia. Our effort is to rescue the victims of love jihad and bring Muslim girls to Hindu homes,” he said. The Hindu Samhati has the same approach as the VHP — conversion through marriage. Women who undergo suddhikaran never file an FIR, so there is no case of forcible conversion, he said. “We do not force people to convert. We help those who wish to get converted. This is a great service to the country and Hindu society,” he said. Bharat Sevasharam Sangha

Swami Gurupadananda, Bharat Sevashram Sangha

The Bharat Sevashram Sangha too has been facilitating the marriage of Muslim girls to Hindu boys. It has set up more than 300 Hindu Milan Mandirs across the state for such marriages and suddhikaran. South 24-Parganas has 45 such mandirs.

Swami Guruparananda, chief organiser of the central Hindu Milan Mandir, said: “Spreading awareness among Hindu and Muslim girls is very important. If married to Muslim youths, girls have to give birth to several babies. The reason is not sexual, but political. Muslims want to increase their population. But if a Muslim girl converts to Hinduism, she lives a normal life in a liberal society.”

He prefers to use the term reconversion. “We only perform rituals for the suddhi of those who are becoming Hindus.” He said he performed suddhi rituals on 108 Muslim girls in two years. “This was only after the girls submitted affidavits, declaring change of religion and names. Other Hindu groups facilitate the legal process while we perform Vedic rituals.”

Source: WHN Media Network