Avinash Azad
In an interfaith love story, the father of the boy has paid a heavy price by losing, the lucrative post of state vice president and basic membership of the BJP, in the Union Territory of Ladakh on Wednesday.
According to locals, a Muslim boy and a Buddhist had fallen in with each other in the Leh town of Ladakh, UT, once a part of erstwhile J&K State. “Recently, the girl eloped with her paramour and they are untraceable till date”, said a local, familiar with the development and added though communally this is a very sensitive matter and the administration should take immediate action to return back the girl, to avoid communal tension.
“No formal complaint in this regard has been lodged by the parents of the girl”, said SSP Leh, P.D. Nitya, adding that the situation in the town is peaceful, nothing adverse report has been received so far.
“A meeting, chaired by the State President and attended by the Executive Members and given ample time Sh. Nazir Ahmed, State Vice President of BJP Ladakh, was provided an opportunity to clarify his involvement in a sensitive issue of the elopement of a Buddhist girl by his son, Manzoor Ahmed. The incident is deemed unacceptable by all religious communities in Ladakh, as it jeopardizes communal harmony and unity among the people of this region”, Circular no-452/BJP/UT/23, dated 16/08/2023 reads and adds that as a result, a decision had been reached to promptly relieving Sh. Nazir Ahmed of his responsibilities as State Vice President and revoke his primary membership within the BJP with immediate effect.
https://twitter.com/skalzangdorjey Dr Skalzang Dorjey, State General Secretary Bharatiya Janata Party, UT of Ladakh has also expressed concerned over this issue and appealed masses to maintain peace and comunal harmony.
In Muslim-majority Ladakh UT, Conversion remained a significant issue, though both communities had lived in harmony for centuries, interfaith marriages become a significant issue and it triggered a massive movement for the demand for Union Territory status in 1989, which was finally fulfilled in 2019 after 30 years. On October 24, 2012 curfew was imposed in the Buddhist-majority Zanskar sub-division of Muslim dominant Kargil district of Ladakh division, now UT. The tension took the entire Zanskar region into its clutches when a handful of Buddhists converted to Islam and a rally was taken out in a Buddhist majority town by the Muslim, a minority community.
