Regret naming my child Narendra Modi, was asked to lie about my child’s date of birth: Muslim mother

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The Uttar Pradesh woman, who grabbed media headlines last month for naming her child Narendra Damodardas Modi, has performed a spectacular U-turn saying that she regretted her decision to name her son after the prime minister.

Narendra Damodardas Modi

Mainaz Begum from Gonda in Uttar Pradesh said that his journalist cousin had misled her to lie about her child’s date of birth adding that the boy was born on 12 May and not on 23 May as claimed by her earlier. The 25-year-old woman said that she had no idea that this would invite trouble for her.

A report by Indian Express said that Begum’s cousin in question was one Mushtaq Ahmed, who worked as a journalist in Hindi daily Hindustan in Gonda. Begum said that not only did Ahmed convince her to name the child after Modi but also spread the word that the child was born on 23 May. Both Ahmed and his Bureau Chief Qamar Abbas shared the byline in a story on Begum’s child, published by Hindustan’s Lucknow edition on 25 May.

Ahmed and Abbas have denied the allegations of fraud made by Begum. “It was not my suggestion. She told me she would name her child Narendra Damodardas Modi and I agreed to write about it in the newspaper I work for. But I didn’t know she had lied about the child’s date of birth,” Ahmed told Indian Express.

Begum’s father-in-law Mohammad Idris was quoted by Hindustan Times last month as saying, “Why should people oppose it? Modiji is our prime minister and this is something we take pride in. Secondly, naming the boy is our family’s decision.”

Begum, according to news agency ANI, had said on 25 May, “My son was born on 23 May, I called my husband who is in Dubai and he asked ‘Has Narendra Modi won?’ so I named my son Narendra Modi. I want my son to do good work like Modi ji&be as successful as him.”

The woman said that she was now facing a boycott of sorts from her own community because she decided to name her child after a ‘Hindu leader.’

Last month, New Indian Express reported that following ‘immense pressure from her family,’ she had been forced to change the name of her child from Narendra Damodardas Modi to Mohammad Altaf Alam Modi. However, she refused to drop ‘Modi’ from the name, the report had added.

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