Abid Bashir
Srinagar, Sept 08: Senior National Conference (NC) leaders on Monday reacted sharply over the lodging of FIRs against people who removed the Ashoka emblem from the Hazratbal shrine, terming the move “unjustified and insensitive to religious sentiments”.
The NC leaders were speaking to reporters at the mausoleum of the party founder, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, at Hazratbal on his 43rd death anniversary.
The controversy erupted after a video went viral showing locals removing the emblem that had been installed by the Waqf Board following months of renovation.
Senior NC leader and MLA Hazratbal, Salman Sagar, said: “We request the LG Manoj Sinha-led administration to withdraw FIRs as the reaction was not against the country’s sovereignty. The fact is that the religious sentiments were hurt.”
Sagar said people sitting on chairs should work for people’s welfare by winning their hearts through love and harmony, not by threatening them with dire consequences like slapping of PSAs, etc.
Health Minister Sakeena Itoo called Hazratbal “the life of Kashmiris”, saying everybody was emotionally linked to it. “Everybody is linked with Hazratbal, and Kashmir is known as ‘Resh-Vear’ (the land of Sufis and Reshis). Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah laid the foundation stone of Hazratbal, but there is not even a foundation stone mentioning his name,” she said.
Nasir Asla, Wani, Advisor to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, said: “There was no need to inscribe a national emblem. If we see the Shrine Board or other religious places, nothing of that sort is done. To promote their own names, they give political colour to this beautiful marvel. We need to see why people resorted to the act of removing the emblem.”
NC Chief Spokesperson, Tanvir Sadiq said the administration’s approach was “misplaced”. “Whatever happened should not have happened. Religious sentiment was hurt, and there was a spontaneous reaction. FIR and threats of PSA are totally wrong. Police should file a case against Waqf Board chief Dr Darakshan Andrabi.”
The NC leaders said the Hazratbal shrine, which houses the holy relic of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), should remain above politics. They appealed to the administration to handle the matter with sensitivity and withdraw the FIRs to restore public trust.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and NC president Dr Farooq were also present on the occasion, who laid wreaths on the grave of Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah and offered fateh prayers.
