The Indian Army has turned down the resignation of a Muslim officer allegedly facing threat from his in-laws for marrying a Hindu girl, who has been forced to leave the country due to family pressure.
The Indian Army has turned down the resignation of a Muslim officer allegedly facing threat from his in-laws for marrying a Hindu girl, who has been forced to leave the country due to family pressure.
Major Akram Khan's (name changed) marital life is also on the verge of collapse as his wife has filed a divorce petition due to his inability to fulfill his marital obligations, his counsel Major SS Pandey said.
32-year-old Khan has filed a petition against Army's "illogical and illegal" decision in the Armed Forces Tribunal here asking to be allowed to resign to join his wife in the United States, where she is working in the IT sector.
The officer had got married in 2005 against their families' wishes and initially stayed with his wife for a brief period.
"During this time, the wife kept getting threatening calls from her relatives and radical elements stating that both the applicant and his wife will be physically harmed," Pandey alleged.
However, due to the atmosphere and the alleged threat to his wife's life from her family members and relatives who kept on troubling her during this period, they decided that the wife should leave India, he said.
After Khan's wife went to the US on a scholarship in 2006, the officer was posted to Jammu and Kashmir from where he could rarely keep in touch with his wife whereas her family members continued pressurising her to leave her husband, he said.
"Sensing trouble, Khan submitted an application recommended by his Commanding Officer for resignation of his commission on the ground of likely long term separation and also likely possibility of development of marital discord to the Military Secretary's branch," Pandey said.
In 2008, his wife also filed a petition for legal separation in an Indian court as she was unhappy with Khan's inability to lead a meaningful family life and fulfill his marital obligations.
Pandey said that the Army also had objections over Khan's wife working abroad and is taking action against him, which can result in termination of his services also but not allowing him to leave the service peacefully.
Despite repeated requests, the officer has not been allowed to visit and meet his wife abroad by the authorities concerned, he alleged.
His wife had come back to India but after seeing that Khan was facing so many constraints from the Army, she has now decided to move ahead with the separation proceedings before going back to the US in February this year, the counsel claimed.
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