Ladakh

Buddhist body threatens stir over ‘conversion’ of Buddhist girl, couple says ‘married with consent’

Commuters walk in Ladakh market. Photo: Twitter/D'Source

Zanskar: Ladakh Buddhist Association has threatened to create a stir in the region in the case the alleged “conversion of a Buddhist woman to Muslim” should not be stopped.

The Association has written to Lieutenant Governor Ladakh Radha Krishna Mathur alleging that a Muslim man from Padum Zanskar has what they call ‘forcibly’ married to a Buddhist girl.

The Association has demanded that the woman should be recovered and handed back to the family otherwise there are apprehensions of communal disturbances in the region.

A local from Zanskar told Kashmir News Trust that interfaith marriages are not new in Ladakh region, but such issues have started attracting attention from the past few years.

He said several years back, dozens of Buddhists willingly embraced Islam, though the action of those Buddhists had invited a sharp reaction from Ladakh Buddhist Association.

In a communique to Lieutenant Governor, the Ladakh Buddhist Association has alleged that the sole motive of “interfaith marriage” is “forceful conversion”.

It said that intercommunity forceful conversion through ‘allured’ marriages in Ladakh have always triggered ill-fated communal riots in the past causing extensive damages to the private and public properties.

The Association has claimed that communal riots are bound to happen in the region if the administration fails to recover the woman.

However, according to reports, the Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh High Court has ordered protection to the couple after they approached it following the threat and harassment they faced.

As per the court order, the couple has married and accepted each other out of their own free will and consent.

The court order mentioned, “If there is any case/FIR against any of the petitioner(s), police may go ahead with the investigation under rules and take it to its logical conclusion.”

 

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