Former Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board chairman Wasim Rizvi formally embraced ‘Sanatan Dharma’ on Monday.
Rizvi was converted to Hinduism by Swami Yati Narsinghanand, the head priest of Dasna Devi temple in Ghaziabadand, and he would now be known as Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi.
According to his will, his dead body should be cremated according to the traditional Hindu ritual, and his funeral pyre lit by the Hindu seer.
“I was removed from Islam. The prize money on my head is increased every Friday. Today I am embracing Sanatan Dharma,” he told India Today.
Rizvi courted controversies after he filed a petition in the Supreme Court for removing 26 verses from the Holy Quran, which he alleged were added much later and promoted terrorism and Jihad.
His appeal was, however, rejected by the apex court.
He again received death threats for releasing a book that allegedly portrayed Prophet Muhammad in a bad light.
