‘Those opposed to National Emblem should be booked’
Srinagar, Sept 05: Engraving of the national emblem on the renovation plaque of Hazratbal Shrine here has sparked a controversy as locals and political leaders maintain that having any figures or shapes at Muslim religious places was against the Islamic concept of monotheism.
Devotees who visited the revered shrine that houses the relic of the Prophet Mohammad slammed the Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board for inscribing Ashoka Emblem on the inauguration stone inside the sacred place.
The shrine underwent renovation recently, and the reconstruction and redevelopment project of the shrine was inaugurated by Waqf Chairperson Darakshan Andrabi.
The inauguration plaque placed inside the shrine has the national emblem etched in the stone, drawing sharp criticism from various quarters.
Many devotees said it was “shameful” on the part of the Waqf Board to be “insensitive” to the religious sentiments of the Muslims in J&K.
A defiant Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board Chairperson Darakshan Andrabi 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. On Friday, people broke the inauguration plaque with stones, removing the national emblem.
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.
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 police because I knew they will 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 ‘makroh’ (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 are you 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.
