His claim came against the backdrop of Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik’s allegations that Sameer Wankhede was born as a Muslim, but forged documents, including a caste certificate, to show that he belonged to the Hindu SC category to get a job under quota after clearing the UPSC examination.After Malik’s allegation, the NCB officer had said that his father Dnyandev Kachruji Wankhede was a Hindu and his late mother Zaheeda was a Muslim. He said his father retired as senior police inspector of the state Excise department, Pune, in June 2007.”We always knew the Wankhede family as followers of Islam. In fact, I always knew Dnyandev as Dawood Wankhede. We agreed to the marriage of my daughter Dr Shabana with Sameer because we had cordial relations with his late mother Zaheeda,” Dr Qureshi said.It was an arranged marriage between Dr Shabana and Sameer, which took place in 2006. However, after the divorce, as it was a painful thing for us and we never discussed it and burried it in our minds. We even moved on with our lives, he said.When asked about how he came to know about Wankhede’s claim of being a Hindu, Qureshi said, “After the controversy broke out about Sameer Wankhede and his birth certificate, my family came to know about it. In fact I knew late Zaheeda’s husband’s name as Dawood. I knew Sameer used to go to mosque occasionally.”Explaining his decision to break his silence over the matter, he said, When Sameer claimed that he has been a Hindu since his birth, many people asked me how did I allow my daughter to marry him (a Hindu). It became an issue of prestige for me and my family. Hence I am making it clear that when the marriage between my daughter Shabana and Sameer Wankhede took place, the groom was practising Islam. His father’s name was Dawood.”
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