CHHATARPUR: TWENTY-EIGHT years after his inter-religious marriage, a Hindu man in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh has embraced Islam with his wife and three children, alleging that his immediate family and other relatives never accepted them and subjected them to insults and neglect. Vinod Khare, a chaat vendor in Rajnagar town, had married Shah Bano according to Hindu rituals. His wife took the name Bina and the couple had three children. The couple and their eldest child, Ekta, told local reporters that they could not bear the insults and decided to embrace Islam.
In an affidavit made a few days ago, Vinod changed his name to Ghulam Mohammed Khan, Bina adopted her old name Shah Bano while Ekta, Aman and Suraj respectively took the names Fatima, Aman Mohammed and Mohammed Aftab.
SDM (Rajnagar) Ravindra Choukse said he had heard about the incident but was yet to receive the affidavit. “We can’t intervene or call them because nobody has approached us so far,’’ he said. VHP leader Anupam Gupta said the outfit will try to woo them back. “By merely making an affidavit, no one can change religion. A few Muslims have misled them. It’s true that he (Vinod) faced problems from his family. What will you gain by changing your religion 28 years later?’’
