Madhavikkutty was the pen-name of Kamala Das (1934 – 2007). She was a world renowned author and columnist. She wrote poems and novels in English and Malayalam and won many accolades over the years. Her openness in writing about female sexuality made her a symbol of liberalism. Today however if you look up Kamala Das, you’ll see pictures of her in an Islamic Burqa.
Her conversion to Islam is a classic case of Love Jihad. Young Muslim man feigns love to an older woman, converts her with the promise of marriage and then disowns her and gets paid for the conversion job from abroad.
The man was Abdusammad Samadani, an author, thinker and politician of the Indian Union Muslim League(IUML). He was also two time Rajyasabbha M.P. Though he was 25 years younger, Kamala Das supposedly fell for his charming personality and his literary talents. Once he met with her at a resort where he allegedly tried to seduce her and when she objected he promised to marry her and she agreed. The marriage was announced and all preparation done but then Samadani absconded. It was later heard that he received a payment of one million US dollars from Saudi Arabia for converting such a high profile person to Islam.
She then wanted to reconvert to Hinduism but was stopped by her son who said re-conversion will expose their whole family to death threats from Muslim fundamentalists. She then moved to Pune where she is said to have shed the burqa but was again made to wear one by her son because it was still risky. Her close friends and helpers say she died a Hindu with a Muslim name.
In a conversation between Samadani and Kunjhalikkutty(IUML), when he was asked if he would marry her, Samadani is said to have mockingly dismissed the idea. He said it was unrealistic for him to actually marry her saying that her’s was just a poetess’s fancy.
Samadani is also alleged to have made a similar proposal to another Malayalam author named Ashitha who however refused.
Current Perception
Kamala Das is still a celebrated literary icon. Her conversion to Islam is quite well known and it is played up by those who want to paint a picture of Islam as an enlightened religion that attracts intellectuals. The ugly details of her story of conversion and later rejection is not well known. Samadani is a respected figure today in politics and academia.
In the bio-pic directed by Kamal, the name Samadani was changed to Akbar Ali and his role in the story is merely that of an admirer and he is portrayed sympathetically. The movie tells that Kamala fully embraced Islam and did not want to reconvert. The general theme after her conversion is that Muslims are the good guys and Hindus are the intolerant and violent ones. When the film was announced and it was known that Kamal (real name Kamaluddin) was directing, it was foreseen that it will be a whitewashing of the conversion.
But lately her true story is slowly coming to light through a series of revelations by her friends about her later days.
Social activist A P Ahmed talks of underhandedness and conspiracy behind her conversion. He also laments the general silence on this issue, calls it a sign of bad times in Kerala and that Kamala herself left Kerala for Pune because she started to hate life in Kerala. A book by a Canadian writer Merrily Weisbord called "Love Queen of Malabar" also sheds light on it. Her friend Leela Menon also testifies that she wanted to return to Hinduism but felt trapped.
Read : Article by Janam National.
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