BuddhistMuslim marriage makes Ladakh tense
Young girls are being lured by Muslim boys... we have repeatedly asked the community leaders... to sensitise their communities to stay away from such act which otherwise will lead to communal unrest
32-year-old husband Murtaza Aga of Kargil. The woman converted to Islam in 2015. She married Aga, an engineer, last year.
“Young girls are being lured by Muslim boys to marry and finally convert them to Muslim... we have repeatedly asked the Muslim community leaders... to sensitise their communities to stay away from such wicked and depraved act which otherwise will lead to communal unrest, and the district administration will be solely responsible,” reads the letter, dated September 7.
The letter – signed by LBA president Tsewang Thinles of which HT has a copy – also urged the state government to intervene immediately and make arrangements to “bring back the girl” before “peace, tranquillity and communal harmony takes an ugly turn”. Repeated phone calls to Thinles and vice-president PT Kunzang went unanswered.
The controversy comes amid rising tensions between the Muslim-majority Kargil region and the Buddhist-dominated Leh region over the LBA’s demand for Union Territory status with legislative power to Ladakh region – an appeal opposed by Muslim leaders from Kargil. Ladakhbased groups say they have been historically discriminated against and received little funds to develop the sparsely populated frontier region.
Shifah herself wrote to Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday, dismissing the LBA’s claim and alleging that she was being unduly threatened. “The statement of LBA is false and concocted, an effort to suppress and threaten the rights of individual… I appeal not to let hatred and fear to win over love and compassion.”
She also said that choosing Islam was her spiritual choice that had little to do with her marriage. A copy of this letter is with HT.
The Kargil MLA, Asgar Ali Karbalai, alleged that the LBA was trying to disturb communal harmony in an otherwise peaceful region.