Iran protests boost ‘Ex-Muslim’ movement that started in Kerala

New Delhi – The ongoing protests against the Iranian Government are giving a boost to the ‘Ex-Muslim’ movement in the country. ‘Ex-Muslims’ are seeing similarities between the situations in Iran and India. The ongoing protests against inflation in Iran have turned anti-Islamic. The Muslims there have started linking their cultural identity with their original Parsi religion. In India, this original identity is linked to Sanatan Dharma.

While in Iran, the aversion to Islam is openly expressed, in India, this trend is mainly seen growing through the internet. Media such as X, YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp play a major role in this. The fear of facing action for openly coming out against Islam is predominant in India. Nevertheless, some former Muslims have grown bolder and have started to post on public platforms.

‘Ex-Muslims’ claim their number is 1 Cr plus

Recently, at an Arya Samaj event held at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, Delhi’s ‘Ex Muslim’ Imroz Alam came on stage and announced that he was changing his name to ‘Rajan Chaudhary’. Many other ‘Ex Muslims’ like him claim that their number has increased to more than one crore across the country in recent years; but there is no concrete evidence for this. Still, people associated with this movement say with great hope that this movement, which started in Kerala about 25 years ago, has now gained momentum and reached North India. It is expanding rapidly. People are abandoning Islam individually or with their families.

Ghar wapasi with family (re-entry into Hindu Dharma)

Javed Iqbal, an ‘ex-Muslim’ from Chandigarh, converted to Hindu Dharma a few months ago and changed his name to Jitendra Goud. He converted to Hindu Dharma along with his wife and two teenage children. He says that his ancestors may have converted to another religion under some pressure; but his roots are in Sanatan Dharma.