J&K Deputy Grand Mufti Nasir ul Islam demanded a separate nation for the Muslims after the BJP rejected AIMPLB’s proposal for establishing Sharia courts in the country. | Photo Credit: BCCL

New Delhi: Hours after All India Muslim Personal Law Board’s (AIMPLB) proposal for opening Shariat courts in all districts of India was rejected by the BJP, Nasir ul Islam, the deputy grand mufti of Jammu and Kashmir, triggered a major row with his remarks by demanding a separate nation for Muslims. "Any resistance to this effort by the BJP means it doesn't want Muslims to stay in India. In that case, we urge them to give us a separate nation,” he said.

This is not the first time Nasir ul Islam has triggered controversy. Talking to reporters at a press conference in Srinagar in January, Nasir had said that Muslims in this country were facing harassment on a daily basis. He urged the Muslims to demand a separate nation as they were constantly being targeted by the right-wing forces on the pretext of love jihad, cow vigilantism or triple talaq.

AIMPLB is planning to move the proposal for establishing Shariat courts for discussion at a meeting in Delhi on July 15. BJP lawmakers have criticised this demand and have called it unconstitutional.

"At present, there are 40 such courts in Uttar Pradesh. We plan to open one such court in every district of the country,” senior member AIMPLB, Zafaryab Jilani, was quoted as telling news agency PTI. “The objective of Darul-Qaza is to resolve matters in light of Shariat laws instead of going to other courts.”

Rejecting this proposal, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi had said that there was no place for Shariat court in this country as this is not the Islamic Republic of India.