Hans Raj Hans denies AAP’s conversion claim, plans legal action

Hans, along with the leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta, registered a complaint with the chief electoral officer against Kejriwal.

Punjabi and Sufi singer and Bharatiya Janata Party’s North West Delhi Lok Sabha candidate, Hans Raj Hans, on Friday dismissed the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) allegations that he had converted to Islam.

Hans Raj Hans denies AAP’s conversion claim, plans legal action (ANI)

Hans said that he would file a defamation case against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders for “damaging” his image.

Hans, along with the leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta, registered a complaint with the chief electoral officer against Kejriwal.

An official of the Delhi CEO’s office confirmed that notices have been sent to Arvind Kejriwal and others.

The AAP on Thursday had accused Hans of converting to Islam in February 2014 and claimed he was not eligible to fight the elections from North West Delhi, which is reserved for the Scheduled Caste (SC) category. “I was born into a Valmiki family and my mother worships Maharishi Valmiki. She would have killed me if I had converted,” Hans said.

In a tweet on Thursday, AAP chief Kejriwal had alleged that Hans would be declared ineligible to contest the polls and urged the voters of North West Delhi not to waste their votes on him.

At a press conference on Thursday, Delhi’s social welfare minister Rajendra Pal Gautam cited news reports claiming Hans had converted to Islam and that he did not disclose this information in his nomination papers.

Hans said that by making such allegations, the AAP leaders had hurt the sentiments of the Valmiki community. “Kejriwal is misleading the people of Valmiki community. He is anti-Dalit as he did nothing for the Valmiki community. By making such false allegations, Kejriwal has lost his credibility,” Hans said.

AAP Spokesperson, Saurabh Bharadwaj, said, “It was widely reported in media that Hans Raj Hans converted to Islam. It’s a clear law that after conversion to Islam, a person cannot take the benefits of caste-based reservation. Islam does not acknowledge any caste system, so Hans Raj Hans cannot contest from a seat which is reserved for the SC. This is not just a personal manipulation but depriving the SC community members of their constitutional rights.”