Waseem Rizvi: The Muslim posterboy of Hindu extremists

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Editor's note: Syed Waseem Rizvi had been a Muslim for the last 46 years. He wasn’t religious but his entire identity was built around Islam. It helped him get elected as a corporator from his Muslim neighbourhood in Lucknow in 2000. It helped him become the Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board chief in 2009. Even when he started his tirades against his community members in the last few years, he could pitch himself as a newly woke Muslim trying change the system from within. But something changed last December. Yati Narsinghanand, a priest from Ghaziabad notorious for his anti-Muslim sermons, organized a Dharam Sansad in Haridwar. Invitees included several members of the Hindutva fringe coming together to purportedly save Hindus from Islamic extremism. Among them was Waseem Rizvi.  Rizvi knew the decision would have consequences. In a flash, he hit upon a solution. “I called Yati and told him to make arrangements.” Then he put his phone on “silent” mode. Two days later, on 6 December, Rizvi renounced Islam and converted to Hinduism. Yati Narsinghanand’s family had agreed to “adopt” him …