NC leaders call installation against Muslim belief; PDP leader resents “Labelling Kashmiris as terrorists”
Srinagar: A defiant Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board chairperson, Darakshan Andrabi on Friday called for the registration of FIRs against those opposing the placing of the national emblem on the inauguration plaque of the renovated Hazratbal mosque here.
The national emblem was placed on the inauguration plaque inside the mosque complex, drawing sharp criticism from various quarters.
Chief spokesperson of the ruling National Conference (NC) and Zadibal MLA Tanvir Sadiq said placing a sculpted figure at the revered shrine goes against the Islam, which strictly forbids idol worship.
“I’m not a religious scholar but in Islam, idol worship is strictly forbidden — the gravest of sins. The foundation of our faith is Tawheed. Placing a sculpted figure at the revered Hazratbal Dargah goes against this very belief. Sacred spaces must reflect only the purity of Tawheed, nothing else,” Sadiq said in a post on X.
On Friday, people broke the inauguration plaque with stones, removing the national emblem.
Terming the incident unfortunate, Andrabi said some people are playing politics on the issue.
“This (incident) is not a scar on the stone, this is a scar on my heart. This is a scar on the Constitution, which the elected leaders here raise. Do the leaders here not use the emblem? Does our elected chief minister not take the emblem along?” she asked at a press conference at Hazratbal.
Andrabi said those who have a problem with the use of the national emblem should not then carry currency notes, which feature the emblem, while visiting the shrine.
“The person who has tweeted (Sadiq), is this his doing? Are they playing politics once again? It is unfortunate what the leader did. He is not worthy of being called a leader,” she said.
Andrabi said the party that she belongs to (BJP) does not play politics on Waqf. “We believe in working and I have worked day and night. Today, they sent their hooligans and created a ruckus here,” she said.
“I had warned the police because I knew they would create a ruckus,” she added.
The visibly angry Waqf Board chief said militants are not only found in the forests of Jammu and Kashmir and labelled those, who removed the emblem, as militants.
“I want to tell police, security forces, the prime minister and the home minister that militants are not limited to jungles, they are not coming from across (the border), these hooligans are (militants), who broke the emblem with stones. They should be found and booked under the PSA (Public Safety Act). They are trying to vitiate the atmosphere here,” she said.
Andrabi called for registering FIRs against those involved in vandalising the inauguration plaque of the renovated mosque.
“I appeal to the home minister, LG and DGP not to let anyone from them go away. They are roaming freely like they used to. They have vitiated the atmosphere. They cannot bear happiness.
“I appeal to the DGP, the IGP and security forces to register FIRs against all of them, book them under the PSA and arrest them. Otherwise, I will sit on a hunger strike,” the Waqf Board chairperson said.
She also called for the registration of an FIR against Sadiq.
“The Assembly member who tweeted this, an FIR against him is necessary, because it looks like that these (people who broke the plaque) were his hooligans,” she added.
Andrabi also asked police and Waqf officials to bodily search the MLA if and when he visits the shrine, “so that there are no currency notes in his pocket. Otherwise, if he has, then that will be ‘makrooh’ (detestable) to be taken inside”.
“Had there been (Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister) Omar Abdullah’s name, would they have done the same thing? They cannot bear that anyone other than them can work — work that is appreciated across the country,” she said.
She wondered what sign would a minister use other than the national emblem.
“Do you (Sadiq) not accept the Constitution of India? What you are calling an idol in the tweet, have you ever asked your chief minister what is it? Have you asked (NC president) Farooq Abdullah?
“It is like I was hit by a cloudburst. I have tolerated their poison for the last three years…. They do not know anything about religion. They believe in hooliganism. They nurtured militants in their homes and today, those militants came here,” Andrabi said, adding that the incident has broken her heart into pieces.
Meanwhile, PDP leader, Iltija Mufti took to X and posted: “Labelling Kashmiris as ‘terrorists’ just because they expressed their anger on something which hurt their religious sentiments & asking police to slap them with PSA reflects BJPs punitive & communal mindset.
“The Waqf board should certainly have been more mindful & sensitive. It seems that Muslims are deliberately being provoked.”
NC’s MP from Srinagar, Aga Ruhullah also posted on X: “Attempts to monumentalise egos inside Hazratbal are not acts of devotion but of arrogance. A sacred place that has stood for centuries needs no one’s nameplate for legitimacy. People were rightly offended by this dangerous attempt to play with religious sensitivities for self-glorification.
“Hazratbal has seen reconstructions before, but never were such means used to claim credit. Any talk of using PSA in this case only adds insult to injury. It is foolish, unacceptable, and an assault on people’s attachment with their beloved shrine.”
Pertinently, a video of an irate mob at the Hazratbal shrine tearing off the emblem has gone viral on social media.
In the footage, a bearded man wearing an Islamic headgear is seen using a boulder to destroy the emblem etched on the foundation stone while a group of around 500 people stand next to him shouting Islamic chants within the shrine.
Witnesses claim that the incident took place a day before Eid-e-Milad, which commemorates Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) birthday, after the Asar prayers at the shrine.
