Jeetendra Narayan Singh Tyagi, formerly known as Waseem Rizvi, has announced his decision to don only saffron robes henceforth.
Rizvi is the former chairman of the Shia Waqf Board.
In December 2021, he ‘converted’ to Hinduism after denouncing Islam as a ‘terrorist unit’. His conversion was facilitated by Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati the head priest of Ghaziabad’s Dasna Devi Temple. Among many other controversies, the temple made it to the news when a 14-year-old Muslim boy was beaten up for entering its premises to drink water from a tap.
Tyagi met Champat Rai the general Secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra in Ayodhya on Thursday to apprise him of his decision to take a dip into the Saryu and give up all other forms of clothing henceforth.
Rai described Tyagi as a ‘simple and good’ human being and wished him success in his endeavour.
“Ayodhya is the land of sacrifice. Sri Ram, Bharat, Lakshman, Shatrughan, Janki and Dashrath embraced sacrifice and continue to live on. It is Ram’s sacrifice that makes him a God”, said Rai.
Bharat, Laksham and Shatrughan are the brothers of Lord Ram while Janki is a name used for his wife, Sita. King Dashrath was the father of Lord Ram.
Tyagi said, “Saffron is our identity. It is my honour to don it. Saffron provides strength and energy. My donning of saffron robes is also a warning to those who threaten to behead us”.
“Today I shall give up my modern clothing in the laps of mother Saryu and will seek its (the river’s) blessings. In the future I might also take sanyas”, he said.
Tyagi is no stranger to controversy and has often made statements which have angered Muslims. One of his demands was that the Prime Minister shut all madrasas as they promote ‘ISIS ideology’. He had also labelled the Babri Masjid a ‘blot’ and said it was a crime to call it a mosque. His most notorious controversy was calling for 26 verses from the Quran to be omitted as they promoted ‘terrorism’.
His conversion to Hinduism is decried as an attempt to wriggle out of the cases filed against him for illegally selling Waqf properties. In 2019, the state government had ordered a CBI probe against him.
