UP Conversion Racket: The Untold Story Of Umar Gautam

BY- JAYA CHOUDHARY

For the past week or so, TV news stations have aired primetime programs about Uttar Pradesh police breaking a "conversion racket" in Delhi. Reportedly, the UP anti-terror team nabbed two Muslim preachers who had converted over a thousand individuals to Islam in recent years. Muhammad Umar Gautam, the leader, operates an organization called Islamic Dawah Center from a multi-story structure in Delhi's Batla House, Jamia Nagar. As per sources, this network's branches are said to be extended across India.

So, what actually is the "conversion racket?" How did they persuade innocent individuals to convert? Most importantly, who exactly is Mohammed Umar Gautam?

Umar Gautam, a Muslim scholar and the founder of the Islamic Da'wah Centre (IDC) was born into a Hindu Rajput family. Reportedly, Shyam Pratap Singh Gautam was his birth name. On his Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts, he claims to be the nephew of former Prime Minister Vishvanath Pratap Singh. In a video, he claims to have met V P Singh and given him a "daawat," which means an invitation to convert to Islam.

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At the age of twenty, Shyam Gautam reportedly converted to Islam under the influence of his college mate Nasir Khan in Nainital. His conversion was not extraordinary. Rajputs have converted to Islam in several areas in and around Fatehpur. After his conversion, he went on to pursue his degree in M. A. and Ph. D. in Islamic Studies from Jamia Millia Islamia. Following that, he spent sixteen years in Assam. He worked in the Markazul Ma'arif Education & Research Centre in Hojai, Assam, for 16 years. He also succeeded in converting his wife and mother to Islam at some point during this time.

Conversion business

Sometime in the 90s, Umar moved to Delhi. He founded an organization called the Islamic Dawah Center and began his conversion business. On its Facebook page, IDC states that it gives "educational, financial, legal, and moral assistance to more than 400 reverts." In Islamist language, reverts refer to those who have converted to Islam because apparently, Islamists believe that everyone is born a Muslim since Islam is the sole genuine religion from the one true god. So, to revert, one must return to one's original condition of being within the Islamic religion. Because the Facebook page was last updated in 2015, the figure of 1000 in 2021 appears to be a genuine possibility. The IDC also hosted a "Revert Get Together" in Delhi in 2011. It included personal accounts from a number of Muslim converts as well as lectures on why Dawah is so important for all Muslims, who should take advantage of every chance to convert others.

Conversion techniques

Umar Gautam and his accomplices would teach that Islam is the greatest religion, instill hatred for Hinduism, and convert susceptible individuals from their original faith to Islam. To persuade individuals to convert to Islam, the accused would employ various types of enticing, brainwashing, and instilling dread about their future. They would next assist them in completing legal paperwork to formalize their conversion. The converts are rewarded with money, employment, or marriage proposals in exchange for their faith.

It is also alleged that Umar Gautam and his companions feasted on underprivileged groups such as women, children, and the physically handicapped. They sought the most vulnerable members of society and converted them to Islam, frequently without informing their parents. The accused would host gatherings from time to time where they would invite non-Muslims and try to persuade them. He then used his own and other converts' experiences as an example of how life has altered since adopting Islam.

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Threat of Hindus

It is noteworthy that the Ghaziabad Police, led by Yogi Adityanath, learned of the hoax when two Muslims were arrested on the premises of Dasna shrine. Both of them went under the names Kashi Gupta and Vipul Vijavargiya, concealing their Muslim identities. It was later discovered that Kashi was actually Kashif and Vipul was actually Ramzan. Umar converted Ramzan, who was born a Brahmin, to Islam. He was Kashif's brother-in-law.

Among the case's many shocking findings was the fact that the entire religious conversion scam was sponsored by foreign organizations, Pakistan's ISI, and other Arab countries. The Islamists' main strategy is obvious. They are launching a demographic jihad in order to seize control of the country by whatever means possible. This involves expanding the Muslim population through converting Hindus and establishing exclusive Muslim zones throughout the nation to enforce authority.