Fed up with anti-national celebration by members of his community, Malayalam film director Ali Akbar and his wife Luciyamma embraced the Hindu way of life on January 14, 2022, in a shuddhi function at his home in Kerala. After his admission to the Hindu fold, Ali Akbar changed his name to Ramasimhan.
Interestingly, eight decades ago, a person named Unnian Sahib and his family renounced Islam and embraced the Hindu way of life in Malabar. The name assumed by Unnian Sahib was Ramasimhan. Unfortunately, a fanatic mob attacked the house of the then Ramasimhan, alleging apostasy and killed him and his brother. Further, his remaining family members were forcibly taken to some unknown location. This incident took place just a few weeks before India's Independence. It seems Ali Akbar assumed the name Ramasimhan keeping this incident in mind.
In December 2021, Ali Akbar announced that he was leaving Islam protesting against those who had celebrated the tragic death of Chief of Defence Staff of the Indian Armed Forces General Bipin Rawat on December 8. Ali Akbar had then revealed this on Facebook, where he also stated that he and his family would have no religion henceforth.
He had also posted a video on Facebook criticising the Islamists who mocked the death of CDS Bipin Rawat. Consequently, Akbar's account was suspended for a month after the video received hateful comments on the platform. The director then opened another account and declared that he was leaving Islam. Akbar said, "Within five minutes of speaking out against those who put up emojis, the account was blocked. I cannot accept it or agree with it, so I'm leaving my religion. I or my family no longer have a religion. That is the decision."
Ali Akbar also said that he is renouncing the religion he got by birth, and hereafter he and his family will live according to the Bharatiya Sanskriti. 'I am throwing away the dress I was born with', he added
"Ramasimhan is a person who was killed while adhering to the culture of Kerala. Tomorrow Ali Akbar will be called Ram Singh. That's the best name", he said. While leaving Islam in December itself, Akbar had said that he would be known as Ramasimhan.
In another Facebook post, Pratheesh Viswanath, Hindu activist and founder of Hindu Seva Kendra, informed that the Malayalam actor had reconverted to Hinduism. The pictures posted by Viswanath were captioned, "History repeats itself, Ali Akbar is now Ramasimhan".
In Kerala, Ali Akbar was also in the news when he announced a film on the 1921 Malabar Hindu Genocide. He sought the support of the public for the production of this film, and many people extended a helping hand to make the film a reality. Ali Akbar faced various kinds of bullying and threats in the name of this film.
