Lawyer representing CRPF constable's Pakistani wife in deportation case is an ‘unfazed' BJP functionary
'I defended the law declared 25 April by the MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) that people on a Long Term Visa (LTV) won't be deported to Pakistan. Menal Khan, the wife of CRPF constable (Munir Khan), had already given an interview for the LTV and the 51-day period after which LTV is deemed to be approved had passed on 4 April,' Sharma told ThePrint.
Known as an advocate who raises issues concerning the Hindus in Jammu, Sharma asserts that opposition to Muslim appeasement is not selective application of the law, based on the religion of the beneficiary. Instead, he says, that Muslim appeasement can only be opposed by supporting equal application of the law of the land.
New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary and advocate Ankur Sharma is unperturbed by 'amateurish' criticism he faces for legally aiding the Pakistani wife of a CRPF constable, insisting that he always supports the rule of law above everything and will continue to do so.
On Thursday, the Jammy and Kashmir High Court granted interim relief to Menal, who was at the Wagah border for deportation. She had entered India on 28 February on a visitor's visa which expired on 22 March. Menal and Munir had married in May last year through WhatsApp video call, according to the findings of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), which has initiated department action against its personnel.
Sharma is Menal's lawyer in the J&K High Court where her husband moved a writ petition challenging deportation notice issued by the local tehsildar.
The people associated with the BJP or any critique on social media for representing Menal are criticising the law of the land decided by the MHA, he says.
'These criticisms are amateurish. I don't want to comment much on it. They are not criticising me for representing her in court. By criticising me, they are criticising the MHA,' Sharma tells ThePrint.
'This is not the only case I have fought in court. I have also fought for Jitendra Narayan Tyagi in the Jammu & Kashmir High Court and secured stay on the case filed for his alleged remarks against Islam. I have always supported the rule of law above everything and will continue to do so. I have opposed Muslim appeasement, and, hence, I was on the hit list of terrorist organisation Hizbul Mujahideen, but I will also not support selective application of law based on religion of the beneficiary,' he adds.
Tyagi aka Wasim Rizvi, the former chairman of Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board, had faced charges for allegedly making disrespectful remarks about Islam and Prophet Muhammad.
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Poster boy of Jammu's far-Right
Hailing from Jammu's Kathua district, Sharma went on to pursue LLB from Faculty of Law, Delhi University before he started his law practice at the J&K HC, according to information available on the website of Ekam Sanatan Bharat.
He first came into prominence in 2014, challenging the constitutional validity of Jammu and Kashmir State Land (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, 2001, popularly known as 'Roshni Act'. Sharma had alleged that the policy introduced by the Congress government led by Ghulam Nabi Azad caused a loss of Rs 25,000 crore to the exchequer.
Similarly, Sharma made news when he moved the J&K HC to transfer the Kathua rape and muder case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and later went on to represent on the accused persons alleging conspiracy of 'jihadis to defame Hindus'.
He later founded an outfit named IkkJutt Jammu, which formally took political shape in November, 2020 and went on to capture limelight by demanding a separate Jammu state and division of Kashmir into two Union Territories, including one exclusively for Kashmiri Pandits.
Sh. @JPNadda welcomes Sh. Ankur Sharma to BJP
Jammu, Sept 22: The BJP on Sunday got a boost after the Ekam Snatan Bharat Dal, National President, Sh. Ankur Sharma, Joined the party and was welcomed into the party fold by BJP National President, Sh. JP Nadda.
BJP Working… pic.twitter.com/qoCi1i85wg
— BJP Jammu & Kashmir (@BJP4JnK) September 22, 2024
The Ikkjutt Jammu came to be later known as Ekam Sanatan Bharat Dal. Last year, Sharma merged Ekam Sanatan Bharat with the BJP ahead of the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
At the time of Sharma's joining the party, BJP national president J.P.Nadda had hailed him as a 'nationalist' who has always stood for the cause of Jammu and Kashmir. 'Joining of Sh. Ankur Sharma in BJP is in the interest of J&K and will also strengthen BJP which is committed to the welfare, development and peace of J&K,' the party's UT unit had quoted Nadda as saying.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: After Pahalgam widow's message against hate, an online army turns on its poster child for justice
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