DEHRADUN: Yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s assertion that all Muslims in India are converts has drawn support from a religious leader in Haridwar and BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj. Both said the ancestors of Indian Muslims were Hindus who converted under different historical circumstances.
Speaking on Friday, Mahamandaleshwar Karoli Shankar Mahadev endorsed Ramdev’s remarks. “What Baba Ramdev has said is true,” he said, adding that the ancestors of Muslims living in India and Pakistan belonged to Hindu communities.
Karoli Shankar Mahadev claimed that, in the past, some people had converted after being persuaded, pressured or threatened. He did not cite specific historical examples to support the claim.
The religious leader also accused politicians such as Asaduddin Owaisi of misleading Muslims for political gain. He alleged that such leaders focused on their own interests rather than development and social welfare. Owaisi’s response to the allegation was not available in the account provided.
“I appeal to the Muslim community to be cautious of those who mislead them,” Karoli Shankar Mahadev said. He added that Muslims were becoming more educated and aware, and claimed that politicians who sought to use the community for political purposes would lose their acceptance.
He said the Sanatan tradition stood for respect for saints, social harmony, compassion and humanity.
Sakshi Maharaj also backed Ramdev’s statement, saying Indian Muslims had not come from Mecca, Medina or the Arab world. “I have long said that Muslims living in India converted from Hindu society,” the BJP MP said.
Maharaj claimed that conversions had taken place under varying circumstances over time. Referring to the past, he said people may have faced “the sword, fear, terror or the threat of death”, but added that such conditions did not exist today.
He further suggested that some Muslims might come to identify with what he described as their ancestral roots. “With time, people will understand their ancestors, and a process of ghar wapsi may also begin,” he said, using a term commonly applied to religious reconversion.