"Turned religious place into political ground": Imam Bashir Ahamed Usmani demands inquiry into vandalism at Hazratbal Shrine

Udhampur (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], September 7 (ANI): Imam Bashir Ahamed Usmani of Jamia Masjid Aallain Talab, Udhampur, demanded an inquiry into vandalism at the Hazratbal shrine in Jammu and Kashmir, alleging that a religious place has been turned into a "political ground".
Speaking to ANI on Saturday, Imam Usmani called the act of defacing the national emblem inscribed on the foundation stone of the newly renovated shrine an attempt to spread "terrorism".
He said, "The festival was being celebrated when the goons tried to spread terrorism there. We want a proper inquiry into this to know who the people were who created this mess in Hazratbal. There should be such an inquiry that the people who were the masterminds behind this are also found, even if they are political or religious leaders. These people have turned a religious place into a political ground."
Demanding action against the miscreants, he slammed the people defending them.
"These people should be taught such a lesson so no one tries to vandalise any religious place in future, whether it is a mosque, temple, gurudwara or church. It seems that the people defending this and making it a political issue must be somehow involved in this incident," he said.
Meanwhile, National Conference (NC) MLA Salman Ali Sagar questioned Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board Chairperson and BJP leader Darakhshan Andrabi for placing the national emblem at the shrine.
Sagar said, "Only one person is responsible for this, that is the Chairperson. As a woman, we respect her. But this is a matter of our religion, of our faith. We should ensure that religious sentiments are not hurt. Somewhere, we feel that this is probably pre-planned."
The NC MLA alleged that the emblem was placed to exploit the opportunity ahead of the Bihar Assembly Elections.
"There is an atmosphere of elections at some places in the country, and somewhere this is being made an opportunity to exploit the Bihar elections... BJP, through its chairperson, controlled the religious institutions here," he said.
Further, he demanded that the Chief Minister and the J-K government should be allowed to appoint the chairman for the Waqf Board.
Salman Ali Sagar added, "You have made someone else the chairperson of the Waqf, while there is an elected government. Let the CM, elected government, decide who should be the chairperson of Waqf, so that it works according to the expectations of the people here."
Earlier on Friday, Darakhshan Andrabi strongly condemned the vandalism of a stone plaque at the Assari Sharief Hazratbal Shrine, terming the incident a "very unfortunate".
Speaking to ANI, Andrabi said, "This incident is very unfortunate. Tarnishing the national emblem is a terrorist attack, and the attackers are the goons of a political party. These people destroyed Kashmir earlier as well, and now they have openly come inside the Dargah Sharif."
The row began after a viral video had surfaced showing a mob defacing the national emblem inscribed on the foundation stone of the shrine, which is undergoing reconstruction and redevelopment under the Waqf Board.
The Hazratbal Shrine is a revered religious site in Srinagar, housing the holy relic of the Prophet Mohammad. (ANI)