Politician's 'conversion of convenience' rankles

A Hindu politician's high-profile conversion to Islam has thrown a spotlight on a ploy many affluent Hindu men, including Bollywood stars, resort to across India to commit bigamy. Chander Mohan, deputy chief minister of Haryana province and a leader of the ruling Congress party, has caused a storm by embracing Islam in order to marry Anuradha Bali - a divorcee with whom he was having an extramarital affair for five years - without divorcing Seema Devi, his first wife and mother of the couple's three teenage children. If Mr Mohan, 43, had not resorted to the 'conversion of convenience', he would have had to seek a divorce from Ms Devi under the provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act before he could legally marry Ms Bali, 35. And divorce cases, particularly if they are contested, can drag on for years. While bigamy is a punishable offence under Hindu marriage laws, Muslim men are entitled to have four wives at the same time under Islamic regulations recognised by the constitution. Ironically, Ms Bali was deputy advocate general of the Haryana government until she was fired after the scandal broke, and was therefore well aware of the legal implications. Mr Mohan and Ms Bali eloped last month, deserting their homes. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was questioned about his deputy's whereabouts and said he was in the dark. As rumours swirled and weeks passed, Mr Hooda quietly took over most of his deputy's official responsibilities, while Mr Mohan's father, Bhajan Lal, a former Haryana chief minister, accused his son of tarnishing the family's reputation by disappearing, and disowned him. The mystery was solved on December 7 when Mr Mohan surfaced in a television studio with Ms Bali to announce that they had converted to Islam and married. They said they embraced Islam at a mosque in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, where a religious leader solemnised their marriage after renaming them Chand and Fiza Mohammad. Haryana Governor Akhlaqur Rahman Kidwai, acting on Mr Hooda's advice, sacked Mr Mohan and Ms Bali, officially for prolonged unauthorised absence. Mr Mohan lost his chauffeur-driven Mercedes, bodyguards and sprawling house. 'I feel like Edward VIII,' declared Mr Mohan. 'Official posts come and go. But I'm happy that I obeyed the dictates of my heart and conscience instead of clinging to the loaves and fish of office. Edward VIII gave up the British throne to marry the woman he loved. What I have lost is peanuts in comparison. And if the people accept my marriage, it won't take long for me to stage a comeback in politics. Allah willing, I will graduate to national politics.' Analysts, however, say Mr Mohan has a bleak political future. Apparently, Mr Hooda consulted Congress party president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and both advised him to sack his deputy. After that, he sacked Ms Bali too. Ashish Nandy, of Delhi's Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, praised the Congress leadership for taking a principled stand. 'Mr Mohan, by his own admission, is guilty of bigamy. His so-called conversion and remarriage violated a landmark Supreme Court judgment. The [highest] court ruled way back in 1995 that if a Hindu who is already married suddenly embraces Islam and remarries, he can be tried in a criminal court for bigamy.' Clubbing together a slew of appeals filed by wives whose Hindu husbands had converted to Islam to remarry without attracting the charge of bigamy, the Supreme Court delivered a stinging judgment in the landmark Sarla Devi vs Union of India case, coming down heavily on conversions of convenience, saying they insulted Islam. Mr Nandy said: 'If the Congress had condoned Mr Mohan's misdeed, it would have been in the dock for sparing a self-confessed law-breaker. 'I believe Congress leaders sought the opinion of heavyweights in the party's legal cell and they unanimously recommended Mr Mohan's dismissal ... particularly because his new-found partner happens to be a lawyer who knows the legal position all too well.' But fortunately for Mr Mohan - and countless other Hindu men seeking refuge in Islam for remarrying - the state cannot take action against bigamists. Only the first wife is legally entitled to sue her husband for bigamy in a criminal court. But most wives meekly accept the situation, particularly if it is sweetened by a financial settlement. Among well-known Indians who converted to evade charges of bigamy are Bollywood stars Dharmendra, Raj Babbar and Bonney Kapoor and stage performer Shyamanand Jalan. And they all got away with it because their wives did not sue. Both Hindu and Muslim religious leaders say Mr Mohan's remarriage is a fraud and are demanding the couple's arrest. But Mr Mohan insists that Islam has attracted him since his childhood and it is coincidence that he converted just before marrying Ms Bali. 'I was always a Muslim at heart. So it's wrong to accuse me of converting for ulterior motives.' He has even branded his critics 'anti-Muslim'.