Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Friday denounced the government’s decision of banning the tradition of donations at Muslim shrines across Kashmir, calling it an undue interference in the religious, traditional practices of people.
Lamenting the move, State Spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said that the justification provided by the government to ban donations sans logic. “There is nothing like ‘forced donations’ happening at the shrines as the order claims. Everyone who comes to these shrines donates either in cash or kind out of their own free will. The move to ban this age-old practice is not only prejudiced towards the spiritual and religious practices of people but puts a big question mark on the real intentions of the government,” he said adding, “It tars every caretaker at our revered shrines with the same brush and shows our Sufi syncretic traditions in a bad light. The government should apologize to people for denigrating their spiritual beliefs.”
There are already ample provisions in the law to deal with any sort of exploitation, Imran said adding, “Mismanaging Wakf properties has been one of the biggest failures of the incumbent govt. Far from augmenting the resources and revenue of Wakf board by creating assets, the administration is busy raking up issues which have no significance,” he said.
The move, he said, is meant to gloss over the mismanagement of the Wakf board under the current regime which has failed to do its basic duty which is to manage our rich heritage of shrines and other structures.
