An Indian-origin man, Ankit Love, appeared before Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, reiterating his claim to be "His Highness Maharaja of Kashmir" and asserting that, under British legislation, he is entitled to immunity under Section 20 of the State Immunity Act 1978, Geo News reported.

 

Love, a British-Kashmiri, was formally charged last month with criminal damage following an incident at the Pakistani High Commission in London, according to the Metropolitan Police.

 

In 2015, he publicly declared himself the Maharaja of the Dogra dynasty, claiming lineage as the son of the late Bhim Singh, former president of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party.

 

During his court appearance at Southwark Crown Court in December 2022, Love argued that, as the self-declared sovereign Maharaja of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, he should be immune from prosecution. 

 

Judge Griffith had issued a formal court order directing the Secretary of State to provide a certificate under Section 21 of the 1978 Act within seven days. The certificate was meant to clarify whether Jammu and Kashmir are recognised as states under the Act and whether Love is regarded as its head of state.

 

In his defence, Love submitted a certificate dated December 13, 2022, issued by Jeremy Pilmore-Bedford, Deputy Director of Protocol at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). It stated:

 

“Under the authority of His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs conferred on me and in accordance with section 21(a) of the State Immunity Act 1978 ("the Act"), I Jeremy Pilmore-Bedford, Deputy Director of Protocol at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office ("FCDO") hereby certify that: 1. His Majesty's Government does accord recognition to Jammu and Kashmir as a State for the purposes of Part I of the Act; and 2. The FCDO has a record of Mr Ankit Love (born in August 1983) as a sovereign head of State on which immunities and privileges are conferred by Part I of the Act.”

 

Speaking to Geo News outside the courtroom, Love said he was emotionally distressed at the time of the alleged attack on the Pakistan High Commission following the April 22 Pahalgam incident in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

 

He said,  “My mother, Jay Mala, passed away two years ago, exactly around the same time on 26 April. This was on her anniversary, a very emotional night for me, given the fact that she died in mysterious circumstances, and I am still in a legal battle with the Home Ministry of India to have the results of my mother's post-mortem revealed to me.

 

“My father, Prof. Bhim Singh, founder of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party, died in a similar situation on 31 May 2022. I have no doubt that the BJP's Indian state agents are behind the mysterious deaths of my parents. I went outside the Pakistan High Commission in protest, not to break the law. We, as Kashmiris, have suffered, and at least three major regional players have played games with us.”

 

Love also admitted to previously causing damage of more than £10,000 during a protest outside the Indian High Commission five years back. He described the act as a “rightful protest” against the "illegal and undemocratic annexation attempt" through the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act of 2019, as well as the 1991 Kunan Poshpora incident, in which Indian security forces were accused of mass rape - a case that, he noted, has yet to result in a single court-martial.

 

Expressing his love for Lahore and wishing to visit the city one day, Love said that his ancestral kinsman Raja Dhian Singh Dogra lived in the current Punjab’s capital in the 19th century, who was the longest-serving prime minister of the Lahore State.

“It’s my dream to visit Lahore one day, but I’m not sure if I will get the visa after what happened. Banned by India and now probably the same from Pakistan. I understand Gandhi and Jinnah faced sanctions too,” Love remarked.