Madi Sharma, Henri Malosse no stranger to controversy

Madi Sharma and Henri Malosse are no strangers to controversy.

Sharma and Malosse came under the attention of the media after they organised the visit of 27 members of European Parliament to New Delhi this week and also took most of them on a tour to Srinagar. They, however, had brushes with controversy even earlier.

The visit of the MEPs to Jammu and Kashmir triggered a controversy with the Opposition parties questioning why the Modi government facilitated the tour of the European Parliament members to the state. The government had earlier did not allow the Opposition leaders and the members of Parliament of India to visit the state.

Sharma introduces herself as a “Social Capitalist”, “International Business Broker” and “Education Entrepreneur” on Twitter. Malosse is a former president of the European Economic and Social Committee – a consultative body of the European Union.

The duo had in August 2018 also organised a tour by MEPs Tomas Zdechovsky, Maria Gabriela Zoana, and Ryzsard Czarnecki to the Maldives, where voting for the presidential elections had been taking place. The MEPs had purportedly made critical remarks about the then President of Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, accusing of running an authoritarian regime.

The government of Maldives had lodged a formal protest with the EU, alleging that the MEPs “presented themselves as though they were an official delegation of the European Union”.

It had alleged that although the MEPs had been “on a privately sponsored visit under a tourist visa”, they had “engaged in an investigation in utter disregard and violation of the rule and laws of Maldives Immigration”.

The EU had later clarified that the MEPs had been on a visit to the Indian Ocean archipelago “in their private – not official – capacity”.

Sharma and Malosse had accompanied the MEPs to the Maldives.

Zdechovsky and Czarnecki were among the MEPs who called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday.

Zdechovsky, however, later said that he had not visited J&K.

Malosse has been a member of the EESC since 1995, while Sharma entered the committee in 2002. They were present when the prime minister addressed the MEPs.