The controversy erupted on Friday after a Nationwide Convention legislator from Zadibal raised objections on X to the inscription of the nationwide emblem on the plaque
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ANI
A plaque bearing India’s nationwide emblem at Kashmir’s holiest Muslim shrine has sparked protests and a political confrontation, as soon as once more placing the revered Hazratbal shrine within the highlight.
The plaque was unveiled final week on the Hazratbal shrine by Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board chairperson and BJP’s nationwide govt member Darakhshan Andrabi after the shrine’s renovation.
A bunch of individuals contained in the shrine objected to the inscription of nationwide emblem on the plaque and tried to deface it.
Andrabi, a staunch BJP chief, who has emerged as some of the seen Muslim faces within the area put up Article 370 abrogation, described these concerned within the act as terrorists and sought their arrest beneath Public Security Act (PSA). The Srinagar police registered an FIR in reference to the incident.
Practically all non-BJP events, together with the ruling Nationwide Convention, PDP and CPI(M), condemned the set up of the plaque, saying it damage folks’s spiritual sentiments.
The controversy erupted on Friday after a Nationwide Convention legislator from Zadibal raised objections on X to the inscription of the nationwide emblem on the plaque. He stated inserting a sculpted determine on the Hazratbal shrine violated the assumption in Tawheed, noting that idol worship is strictly forbidden in Islam.
Because the video displaying a gaggle of individuals defacing the logo circulated on-line, Andrabi hurriedly known as a press convention and blamed Nationwide Convention leaders for staging the protests and known as for invoking PSA in opposition to these concerned within the incident .
Deploring the defacement of emblem, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah questioned the set up of plaque on the spiritual place. PDP president Mehbooba Mufti demanded motion in opposition to Waqf chairperson beneath blasphemy, whereas CPI( M) chief Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami termed the set up of plaque as provocative and sought apology from the involved.
The Hazratbal shrine homes a relic believed by Muslims to be a strand of Prophet Muhammad’s hair, making it some of the revered spiritual websites.
Over the a long time, the shrine has hosted each devotional gatherings and political mobilizations, usually mirroring the unresolved debate over Kashmir’s political and cultural id.
“The location was a focus of political mobilization through the independence motion within the Nineteen Thirties,” stated a Valley primarily based political analyst, who requested to not be named.
Inseparable half
Aside from being a non secular image, Hazratbal has been an inseparable a part of the area’s tumultuous political historical past.
The theft of the holy relic in 1963 stirred Kashmiri Muslim social and political sentiments.
“The incident additionally introduced renewed deal with Kashmir’s accession to India in 1947, elevating alarm in New Delhi”, the analyst stated.
“Putting State symbols on the shrine was sure to set off resistance, as these areas in Kashmir have traditionally been the place faith and politics intersect,” he added.
Revealed on September 7, 2025
