Father of Hadiya, the girl who had converted to Islam to marry a Muslim boy, has joined the Bharatiya Janta Party. KM Ashokan, an ex-serviceman, joined the party on Monday and has extended support to party’s ongoing protest against the Supreme Court verdict in the Sabarimala case.

Ashokan who was a Communist Party follower said that the BJP is the only Party safeguarding the beliefs of Hindus.

“I was a Communist Party follower since my childhood. But of late the party is playing dirty vote-bank politics eyeing minority votes. I failed to understand if somebody talks about Hindus he turns communal in no time,” Ashokan said.

The ex-serviceman feels that the matters of religion should not be decided by the court. “Like many Hindus of Kerala, I am also torn between my belief and law. I personally believe customs and traditions should not come under the preview of courts. Let religious scholars and others decide on such issues,” he said.

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Ashokan’s only daughter Akhila Ashokan had converted to Islam and had changed her name to Hadiya to marry a Muslim boy Shafin Jehan. Her father had filed a missing complaint accusing her roommates Faseena and Jaseena after she went missing from her hostel in Salem Tamil Nadu where she was pursuing her medical degree. When Hadiya appeared before the Kerala High Court after his father filed a Habeas Corpus petition, she confessed to having converted to Islam out of her own free will, “impressed” by her room-mates’ way of living, prayers and “good character”.

Hadiya’s case had stirred the alleged forced conversion debate in the country. The Acting Chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW) Rekha Sharma had also said that forced conversions in the state of Kerala are real and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was like “an ostrich who is keeping his head buried in the sand.”