Denied a gun license, Muslim youth embraces Hinduism in protest

Meerut: In yet another case of religious conversion, a Muslim youth from Baghpat converted to Hinduism in protest against denial of arms license to him by the authorities.

According to a report in Times of India, Furqan Ahmad had been wearing a 'choti' after shaving off his hair, pasting tilak on his forehead and calls himself 'Phool Singh', causing heartburn to fellow Muslim brethren.

Ahmad, who drives an e-rickshaw during the day to support his family of six members, needs a gun license to be a security guard which will also supplement his meagre income.

He had applied for a gun license in 2010. However, despite all efforts, his  application for a gun license has not been approved yet by the district administration.

''For almost three years, I ran from one department to another to get all the clearances and certificates required for it. Much to my disappointment, even after repeated requests to the then DMs, the babus misplaced my file in 2014. I had to restart the entire process again. Even now, it has been months that my file got completed and yet I am not being granted an arms licence," Ahmad was quoted as saying.

Ahmad even filed an RTI query to discover that a total of 378 arms licences were issued in the district during this period, but his file kept gathering dust.

In utter frustration, Ahmad decided to change his religion as a mark of protest against the authorities.

When contacted, Baghpat District Magistrate Hardev Shankar Tiwari reportedly said, ''An arms licence is given only after thorough investigation and ascertaining level of security threat to an aspirant. Everyone cannot claim such a sensitive thing as arms licence by resorting to such measures as Ahmed has taken."

Ahmad, who is now planning to approach High Court in the matter, says he is not worried about pressure from the religious leaders of his community and maintains that it is his life and no one can dissuade him from converting.