After O.P. Verma and his family voluntarily converted to Islam, they have been on the run, trying to escape irate relatives and the wrath of both the communities.

Verma who worked as a cycle mechanic in Rasoolpur Dhaulri, recently declared himself as Ibadur Rahman. He named his wife of 25 years, Rajeshwari as Summaiyya, his daughter Asha (18) became Ayesha and Bimal, Sajida. When news of the conversion broke out in the village last week, it sent out shock waves ... Verma's brother-in-law Tej Prakash Verma, who works with the State Electricity Board, accused the other community of luring his sister's family to change her faith ... He has not lodged a formal FIR, but he says he has given a complaint to the area police where he has accused three persons of holding the couple in their custody.

The relatives say a local homeopathic doctor, Asif (said to be a Brahmin convert)who was a frequent visitor to the couple's household; acted as the catalyst ...

Members of the Muslim community allege that after their conversion, the relatives threw them out in the middle of the night. The family has reportedly been given shelter in a Muslim-dominated village ... (It is said) that Om Prakash had been practicing Islamic rituals for the past 17-18years ... He got a certificate of conversion only recently,says Senior Superintendent of Police R.P. Singh. It's no forcible conversion, he clarified ...

Predictably, the situation has got politicized, with. local units of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad demanding that the community produce the family to ascertain whether they were forcibly converted. "If he had problems marrying off his daughters, we are even prepared to raise Rs. one or two lakhs", says VHP Meerut Mahanagar chief, Krishan Johri ... The VHP has threatened to launch an agitation ... The villagers too are gearing up for a showdown ... ' Hindu-dominated villages held their panchayat in Dolcha on 18 August, which was attended by representatives of 40 villages, claims Balbir Singh. Following this, Muslims held their own panchayat ... DM A.K. Awasthi has ordered a magisterial probe .. (Source: The Indian Express, 20 August, 2000)