New Delhi: Nazir Ahmed, who was removed as BJP’s Ladakh vice-president for his son allegedly eloping with a Buddhist woman and marrying her, says he is hurt by the way the party has treated him and despite that he will continue to be a soldier of the party.
“I was not even in the state when all this unfolded. It is quite unfortunate but both the boy and the girl are mature people and are educated. The party asked me to find my son and I said I would visit Jammu, Srinagar etc and try to locate him. While I was in Srinagar looking for him, I got a call from the party pointing out they didn’t have much time. They then asked me to resign but I refused as I have not done anything wrong so why should I. It is then they decided to relieve me from my post,” Ahmed told ThePrint.
The 74-year-old sacked leader said he tried contacting his son but his number was switched off.
In a circular issued by the BJP’s Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh unit Wednesday, it pointed out that action was initiated against Ahmed days after he was given an “opportunity to clarify about his involvement in the sensitive issue of elopement of a Buddhist girl by his son”.
“They have married against our wishes. We had to, in fact, get him married somewhere else. We were not aware of anything. Ladke ka sazaa mujhe mila (I have been punished for my son). Would this ever happen anywhere else? I fail to understand why they have taken this extreme step. I am one of the founding members of the BJP in the state,” he said.
“Rather than giving me respect they are doing this. I will definitely go to the party high-command and they will understand. I am not blaming the central leadership as they aren’t even aware of what all happens at the state level. I am a big fan of Modi ji, and I will continue to be loyal to the party.”
Rubbishing the claims of ‘love jihad’, Ahmed said the use of such vocabulary is not in the culture of Ladakh.
“I don’t even know what the definition of ‘love jihad’ is. We don’t use such words here. But I can say that this is certainly not a case of ‘love jihad’ as I have been told that they had, in fact, got married and it has even been registered. The police, we have been told, have a copy of the marriage certificate. I am hurt by these allegations and the way our family is being treated is unfair. We have even heard that pressure is being mounted on the family of the girl to register an FIR,” he said.
The circular issued by the BJP’s Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh unit further said that the alleged elopement is “unacceptable to all religious communities in Ladakh as it jeopardises communal harmony and unity among the people of this region”.
Ahmad, said he was away on Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia when his son and the woman got married in a court. “I have been told both had performed nikah many years back and last month, when I was away on Hajj pilgrimage they performed court marriage,” the expelled BJP leader said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)