Late Wajid Khan’s wife Kamalrukh accuses his family of harassing her to convert to Islam; shares her ordeal of being in an inter-caste marriage

Singer-composer Wajid Khan breathed his last on June 1 this year. Almost five months after Wajid’s demise, his wife Kamalrukh has come out to share her ordeal and experience of being in an inter-caste marriage. Kamalrukh also shared how Wajid’s family harassed her to convert her religion post marriage. Kamalrukh is Parsi while Wajid was Muslim.

Kamalrukh also said that she chose to open up on the topic of inter-caste marriage as the debate surrounding Anti-Conversion Bill has intensified. She penned a lengthy note and shared her experience.

Taking to her Instagram handle, Kamalrukh shared, “My name is Kamarukh Khan, wife of late music director Wajid Khan. My husband and I had a courtship spanning over ten years before we finally got married. I am Parsi and he was Muslim. We were what you would call “college sweethearts”. Eventually, when we did get married, we married for love under the Special Marriages Act (an act that upholds the right to practice one’s own religion post marriage). And this is why this current debate surrounding the anti-conversion bill is so interesting for me. I want to share my ordeal and my experience in an inter-caste marriage – that in this day and age, a woman can face such prejudice, suffering and discrimination in the name of religion is a complete shame…and an eye-opener.”

Further revealing how her resistance to convert to Islam widened the divide between her and Wajid, Kamalrukh wrote, “My simple Parsi upbringing was very democratic in its value system. Independence of thought was encouraged and healthy debates were the norm. Education on all levels was encouraged. However, post marriage, this same independence, education and democratic value system was the biggest problem for my husband’s family. An educated, thinking, independent woman with an opinion was just not acceptable. And resisting the pressures of conversion was sacrilege. I have always respected, participated and celebrated all faiths. But my resistance to convert to Islam drastically widened the divide between me and my husband, making it toxic enough to destroy our relationship as husband and wife, and his ability to be a present father to our kids. My dignity and self-respect did not permit me to bend backwards for him and his family, by converting to Islam.”  

 

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A post shared by Kamalrukh Kahn (@kamalrukhkhan)

She went on to reveal how scare tactics were used to make her change her mind. “I felt betrayed and was emotionally drained but my children and I held on,” she wrote. She went on to reveal that she became an outcast from Wajid’s family. Kamalrukh even said that she is still being harassed by the late musician’s family.

“Wajid was a super talented musician and composer who devoted his life to making melodies. My children and I miss him dearly and we wish he had dedicated more time to us as a family, devoid of religious prejudices, the way he did while creating his melodies. We never got to be a family due to his and his family’s religious fanaticism. Today post his untimely death, the harassment from his family continues. I stand fighting for the rights and inheritance of my children which have been usurped by them. All this because of their hatred against me for not converting to Islam. Such deep-rooted hatred that even death of a loved one could not move,” she added.

 

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A post shared by Kamalrukh Kahn (@kamalrukhkhan)

Emphasizing why anti-conversion law should be nationalised, Kamalrukh said, “I truly wish this anti-conversion law is nationalized reducing the struggle for women like me who are fighting the toxicity of religion in inter-caste marriages.” She ended her post by writing, “Religion should be a cause for celebration of differences not separation of families. All religions are the path to the divine. Live and let live should be the only religion we all practice.”

 

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A post shared by Kamalrukh Kahn (@kamalrukhkhan)

Kamalrukh has two kids- 16-year-old daughter Arshi and 9-year-old son Hrehaan.

Also Read: Sajid Khan: My music will be a tribute to Wajid and want to keep his name till the time I am in this world

Pooja Sharma

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