"Will I Be Cremated or Buried?": Himanshi Khurana Opens Up On Her Relationship With Asim Riaz

Himanshi Khurana once found herself confronting a question she had never imagined asking: if she gave up her faith for love, would she be cremated or buried?

In one of her most personal accounts since her breakup with Asim Riaz, Himanshi has spoken about the religious conflict that made her question her relationship, identity and bond with God. Speaking to Paras Chhabra on his podcast, she did not name Asim but described how the possibility of embracing her partner's religion began to feel like saying goodbye to her own.

Himanshi and Asim met and fell in love during Bigg Boss 13. After four years together, they announced their separation in December 2023. Himanshi said at the time that they were "sacrificing our love for our different religious beliefs". Asim later confirmed that they had mutually parted ways because of their respective faiths.

'I felt I was betraying my God'

Himanshi said her partner would speak to her about the positive aspects of his religion and wanted her to understand and accept them. She made it clear that he had never mistreated her and that her decision came from what she could and could not reconcile within herself.

"He used to tell me the good things about his religion. Everyone tells you about those things; there is nothing wrong with that. They wanted me to understand it and accept it, but it was not acceptable to me. There was nothing wrong with him, he never misbehaved with me, but it was my own choice that I did not want to do something like that," she said, indicating that the possibility of conversion had entered their conversations.

What began as a religious difference soon became an intensely personal struggle.

"I felt like I was betraying my God," Himanshi said.

She suggested that accepting another faith could have meant losing the freedom to practise the one she had grown up with. The thought unsettled her so deeply that she wanted to undertake the Char Dham Yatra and visit other sacred places before making any decision.

"I felt I wouldn't be able to do this anymore. So I said I want to visit Char Dham and all the pilgrimages before that, because after that I would never be able to meet them. It was like I was saying goodbye," she said.

That feeling became the turning point. Why, she wondered, did choosing love have to feel like abandoning God?

"The fact that this question even arose was a big thing – why did I feel like I was saying goodbye to my God?" she said.

‘How can I remove what is already inside me?'

Himanshi then began questioning whether faith could ever be changed in practice simply because a person had formally accepted another religion. Her beliefs, she said, were not external rituals that could be switched off. They had become instinctive after a lifetime of prayer and upbringing.

"I said, if I bow my head before your God, automatically ‘Waheguru' will come out of my mouth. That would also be a betrayal. And this is already inside me. How can I remove it?"

For Himanshi, the conflict was not about declaring one religion superior to another. It was about recognising that faith becomes part of a person long before they are old enough to analyse it.

She also acknowledged that the same dilemma would confront her partner if the situation were reversed.

"Even if we turn the tables, they wouldn't be able to do it either. It's not possible because we have been following these things since childhood. Whatever it is, it is inside us," she said.

The questions eventually moved beyond prayer and religious practice. They reached the most final and intimate question of identity.

"Then a question came into my mind, will I be cremated or buried? This question came from my subconscious. Anyone can have any choice. I believe everyone should have their own individual choice," she said.

The journey that left Himanshi in tears

Unable to ignore what these questions were revealing, Himanshi turned towards pilgrimages in an attempt to understand her own faith more deeply.

She recalled undertaking the arduous Kinnaur Kailash trek, describing it as one of the toughest journeys of her life. Despite the religious conflict between them, she said her partner supported her decision and celebrated the achievement.

"To be honest, my partner appreciated it at that time because it was the toughest journey. He was very happy," she said.

But when Himanshi finally reached the destination, the emotions she had been holding back overwhelmed her.

"When I reached there, I cried. I cried so much," she said.

The journey appears to have given her an answer that the relationship could not. The religious differences between them did not lead Himanshi to reject another faith. Instead, they forced her to recognise how deeply her own lived within her.

She suggested that had the question of embracing her partner's religion never arisen, she might never have examined her beliefs with such intensity. The relationship ended, but the conflict it created brought her closer to an identity she realised she could not leave behind.