Ex-Imam appeals he be allowed to lead prayers at Dargah Hazratbal

Srinagar: Pleading innocence, the ex-officiating priest at Dargah Hazratbal, Dr Kamal-ud-Din Farooqi on Tuesday requested permission from the administration to lead prayers at the shrine.
He also claimed that the “Hindu man from Haryana had converted and accepted Islam out of his own free will and not under any undue influence” – referring to the apparent reasons for his ouster as prayer leader at the shrine.
Farooqi, a retired professor and chief scientist at Sher-i-Kashmir University of Agricultural Science (SKUAST), also contested the J&K Waqf Board’s authority to remove him from the pulpit of Hazratbal, saying he was not even permitted to worship at the shrine.
A notice prohibiting Farooqi from leading prayers at Dargah Hazratbal was issued by the Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board in April this year. The notification followed allegations of “forced conversion” of a Hindu man at the revered Muslim shrine.
“For the past several years, I have been leading prayers at the Dargah Hazratbal shrine, adhering to the core principles of Islam. Why would I convert a Hindu to Islam without getting his consent when he (the convertee) asked me to make him recite Shahada,” Farooqi said, while addressing a press conference at his residence.
Police had lodged an FIR against one Anayat Muntazir for alleged forced conversion of his domestic help Sandeep Kumar at the shrine during Jumat-ul-Vida (the last Friday of Ramzan).
Refuting the allegations that anti-national chants were raised during the conversion, Farooqi claimed that no sooner the man converted to Islam in front of two lakh devotees, including the police and Waqf Board administrators, the shrine reverberated with the chants of ‘Nara-e-Takbeer, Allah-o-Akbar’.
“This is what transpired at that moment; he was hugged and kissed by the worshippers who were happy for his conversion. Please let me know what I did wrong. I helped the ‘convertee’ when he came to me to assist him; little did I know that the matter would turn into a major controversy,” he added.
Farooqi said he was summoned to the concerned police station the same evening and was grilled for around three hours in order to determine his role in conversion.
He claimed to have gotten a notice from the Waqf Board a few days later, asking him to stop leading prayers at the shrine till the enquiry was completed.
“I got a copy of the FIR from the court, but my name wasn’t mentioned on it. I appreciate the cops’ kind conduct at the police station, but I also contest the Waqf Board’s authority to stop me from carrying out my religious obligations,” said Farooqi.
He said, “I am not an employee of the Waqf Board. Our family has been performing the duties of Imam-o-Khateeb at Hazratbal shrine for the past 350 years.”
Waqf Board, he said, served him a notice informing that he has presided over the meeting concerning the alleged forced conversion. It claims that the conversion has created confusion and chaos among the general public.