MUMBAI (Web Desk) – Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan has stated nobody converts his religion for marrying someone and that he got married to Kareena Kapoor under Indian Special Marriage Act.
Khan, in an interview, categorically defended his marriage to Kareena Kapoor Khan. He said “No one converts and even if they did, why should it be a problem really? God knows who somewhere gets offended and starts a chain reaction,” he maintained.
In January 2015, Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) women’s wing, Durga Vahini used a morphed picture of Saif Ali Khan’s wife, actress Kareena Kapoor Khan, showing half her face covered with a burqa. The caption underneath read “conversion of nationality through religious conversion”. The picture gave rise to speculation on whether Kareena Kapoor Khan, a Hindu, had converted to Islam to marry Saif, a Muslim.
The actress had chosen to remain silent on the subject. However, Saif had vocally criticized the campaign, labelling it unfair targeting. Saif Ali Khan’s mother, actress Sharmila Tagore, a former Hindu, had converted to Islam on her marriage to Saif’s Muslim father, former Indian cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. Saif himself had been earlier married to actress Amrita Singh, a Sikh who had converted to Islam. The marriage ended in 2004. Kareena Kapoor Khan chose not to change her religion.
A similar controversy had arisen in January 2015, when the Hindu Mahasabha had challenged actors Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Saif Ali Khan to convert to Hinduism if they “really love their wives”. All three actors are married to Hindu women, none of whom has converted to Islam.
