Malayāḷam filmmaker Ali Akbar and family quitting Islam to become Hindu has made national news. However, this is no surprise as he has been a Kṛṣṇa devotee for long, and wasn’t practising Islam for most of his adult life. But what is surprising is his choice of new name. Rāmasimhan! He has named himself after another Muslim convert to Hinduism who along with his family and househelps were brutually murdered by Islamists almost 75 years ago. An incredible but tragic story which I will retell here.
The story starts when Uneen Sahib, a wealthy Muslim landlord, developed a searing stomach ache which couldn’t be cured by doctors and Vaidya-s alike. Left without a choice he consulted a Siddhā at the insistence of a friend/relative, who then told him that the cause of illness was nothing medical but a curse he has incurred as a result of desecrating an ancient temple!
In 1905 Uneen Sahib’s father Moidu Sahib had taken 600 acres of land for lease for a period of 90 years from Kundrackal Nair family. In early 1940s while clearing the estate for rubber plantation, Uneen Sahib came across the ruins of an ancient temple where the ground was strewn with exquisitely carved idols, pillars, and beams, all of which were broken or mutilated. It was the ruins of Māṭṭummal Narasimha Svāmi Kṣetram, one of the many ancient temples of Malabar razed to ground by Tipu Sultan during his last conquest of Malabar in 1794. Uneen Sahib, who had a deep hatred for idols (mūrtī) and idol worship (mūrtī pūjā) and took a special delight in acts of their sacrilege, had taken a few of them to make a toilet in his bunglow! This was the beginning of his strange ailment. Therefore, when the Siddhā told him about the curse he knew it was true.
The Siddhā asked him not to worry and told that a sincere apology in mind (to Narasimha mūrtī) backed by a firm resolve not to engage in such acts again is all that is required for a remedy. Uneen Sahib did as was told and was miraculously cured in a few days. This not only strengthened his conviction but also made him to resolve that he will revive the temple to its ancient glory and give it back to the Hindu community of the place. He kept aside a handsome sum of money and got the work started. In the meantime he also developed a great desire to learn the scriptures, for which he approached the Siddhā again. He also invited scholars and Ācārya-s from far and wide, all of whom answered his various questions. At some point he gave up on non-vegetarianism, and at another time picked up a sādhana. In a year’s time he was a completely changed man!
This invited a new set troubles for him. Warnings and threats from Islamists. Soon his wife left him and went to her father’s place. Uneen Sahib responded by converting to Hinduism through Arya Samaj! He assumed the name Rāmasimhan, the Malayāḷam equivalent of Ram Singh. His two sons also became Hindus and got themselves named as Fateh Singh and Jorwar Singh, the names of Guru Gobind Singh’s two valiant sons who were murdered on the orders of Aurangazeb for refusing to convert to Islam. They were followed by his younger brother Ali Bappu who now became Dayāsimhan (Daya Singh). Dayāsimhan further became Narasimhan Nambūtiri when Rāmasimhan requested a Nambūtiri family to initiate his brother in the Nambūtiri ways and also to give their daughter in marriage to him (brother). A few months later Rāmasimhan’s wife showed interest to return to him. He is said to have told her that she’s always welcome but only as Sītā as he has become Rāma(simhan) now!
Needless to say these rattled the Islamists. When threats didn’t work, as many as 50 Mussaliyars went to his home and challenged him for a religious debate. Not only that he accepted their challenge but defeated them fair and square with his sharp arguments and counter arguments! By then he had mastered a few foundational texts of Hinduism including the Bhagavad Gītā. They could do nothing but pronounce that he was possessed by a gin, the cure for which was eating 14 ritualistically blessed oranges. He ate all the 14 oranges but his conviction remained the same. Infuritiated, all of them walked out warning him of dire consequences. (By the way, his youngest brother who had also converted to Hinduism (not Dayāsimhan) reverted to Islam during this event).
A few days later on August 2, 1947, at around 2 a.m., five men armed with daggers and guns barged into his bunglow and murdered all of them in cold blood. It included Narasimhan’s 15 year old pregnant wife Kamala Antharjanam, and their cook Raju Iyer. It was that brutal that nobody even dared to cremate their bodies for a few days. Police investigation revealed that the conspiracy was hatched by none other than Rāmasimhan’s father-in-law. Palakkad sessions court, and later Kozhikode district court convicted all the 7 accused in 1948. However, the accused went for further appeal at Madras High Court. This time all of them were acquitted for lack of “conclusive evidence”. All of them walked free in January 1949.
By the way, the 90 years lease ended in 1995. Though most of the 600 acres are in dispute, in 1999 Māṭṭummal Narasimha Svāmi Kṣetram was taken back by the local Hindu community. The temple is well established today. You must visit this temple when you go to Aṅgādippuram (Malappuram, Kēraḷam) next time.
Writer, speaker
Assistant professor
(Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth)