A day after the late music director Wajid Khan’s wife took to Twitter to recount her ordeal in an interfaith marriage, she has now spoken in detail about the mistreatment of her in-laws and husband for not converting. to Islam. Kamalrukh Khan, a Parsee by faith, had married his college sweetheart, Wajid Khan, after 10 years of dating.
In an exclusive interview with Times of India, Kamalrukh recounted her reluctance to convert to her husband’s religion. She added that while Wajid was aware of her reluctance to convert and went ahead with the marriage, her family opposed the marriage and has expressed their opinion on it. “… For a period of time, his family, especially his mother, began to pressure him to convert and over the years, especially after the birth of my children, the efforts to try to convert me reached epic proportions, to a level on the that the gap in my relationship with Wajid widened, “he said.
Her marriage to Wajid Khan eventually turned sour, due to the constant expectation of changing her faith. Although he initially accepted her decision, pressure from his mother and family prevailed over him. Kamalrukh Khan stated: “Things got worse after the marriage; almost everything I did, including my motherhood, was linked to my religion; Not being Muslim meant that my children were already separated because Wajid would not be home. He was heartbroken and confused: his family imposed their orthodoxy on him and me and when I didn’t move (on conversion), I became something of an outcast. He became an absent father and husband. “
Wajid Khan’s family labeled their children as illegitimate and asked him to remarry
“Wajid’s family kept insisting that our children were illegitimate since we had not married according to Muslim law (Nikaah, which if I did, would mean that I would convert to Islam). For them, the Law of Special Marriages did not mean anything, “he said. Members of Wajid Khan’s family were so intolerant of her decision that they burst into tears whenever she held Parsi festivals. “They also stopped attending any of our Parsi family functions and his mother was openly telling Wajid, in my presence, to remarry, which he obviously did not agree to do,” he said.
Wajid Khan had filed for divorce because he did not convert
Kamalrukh Khan recounted how Wajid Khan filed for divorce in 2014, a move that left her devastated. She said: “The constant interference from her mother and other family members, along with the constant pressure to convert, affected the health of our relationship. He moved out after a fight when Arshi was between 2.5 and 3 years old. He came back again after three years. We had Hrehaan. And again, due to the same pressure that followed, he left again in 2014 and filed for divorce. “
Kamalrukh Khan reveals about his decision to go public
As he spoke of his decision to go public with his ordeal, he recounted how Wajid’s family is hell-bent on denying their children the right to inheritance. Kamalrukh Khan lamented: “Life has brought me to a point where I need to fight for the due inheritance of my children, as his family usurped his property after Wajid’s death. I am a father and mother to them and, in practice, I have always been … I have to pay for their education and our maintenance. “
She added: “I work as a clinical hypnotherapist and our main source of income has been from Wajid’s marital support. If that is also being taken away (by those who have not bothered to keep in touch with me or my children for the last 7-8 years), for such unjust reasons, I have to fight on all fronts. “He further said:“ My reasons for speaking out are tied to an inherent sense of justice. No woman should have to face what I have faced during these 17 years of marriage. “
Pointing out the grim reality of forced conversions, Kamalrukh Khan emphasized: “If an educated and independent woman like me can go through this just because she married for love and did not convert, much worse can happen to others who have less power.”
The law against conversion should be nationalized, said the wife of the late Wajid Khan
Previously, she had opined that the anti-conversion law introduced by the UP government should be nationalized to reduce “the struggle of women like me who fight against the toxicity of religion in inter-religious marriages.” He summarized his lengthy article by writing: “Religion should be a reason to celebrate differences, not the separation of families. All religions are the path to the divine. Living and letting live should be the only religion that we all practice ”.
Wajid Khan, a Bollywood music composer for the successful duo Sajid-Wajid, had passed away in Mumbai this year in July. He had kidney problems and had contracted a coronavirus infection.
