Shahzad Rana, a Muslim man in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli city has, along with his family, converted to Hinduism, claiming that Lord Ram has been appearing in his dreams, asking him to return to Hinduism.
Following his conversion, Shahzad, who has adopted the Hindu name of Sanju Rana, approached the office of the district magistrate to make his conversion official.
Rana claims that his ancestors were Hindus, who were forced to convert to Islam.
"For the past 15-20 days, Lord Ram has been appearing in my dreams, asking me to come back (to Hinduism). We were Hindus earlier; invaders had come to our lands centuries ago and forced my ancestors to convert to Islam. I am just returning to my roots," Rana told ANI.
He further clarified that he is under no pressure from any person or group for the conversion and that his family is also happy with the conversion.
Rana said that after seeing Lord Ram in his dreams, he was nervous about his community's reaction to his decision. The situation was worse than he feared initially, as, after his conversion, he claims to have received threats to his life from a number of people from his neighbourhood, including his uncle, who did not wanted him to convert.
Rana approached a police station for protection. "I saved my life and fled to the police station this morning. I just want to protect my children," he said.
Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police Dinesh Kumar said, "We haven't received any concrete evidence regarding the threat to his life. The conversion is his (Rana's) personal matter. Constitutional proceedings will be undertaken in this matter. Also, we haven't found any evidence that Rana has been forced to convert by any religious group.
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