HULLABALOO AT HAZRATBAL

A renovation that should have awed the devout ends up creating a blasphemy controversy and bitter politicking

- By Kaleem Geelani

RELIGION AND POLITICS may be like the two sides of a corbelled arch, but Kashmir's Hazratbal is living up to its history as a site where the two often meet to make fire. The white-domed shrine on the banks of Dal Lake, which houses the Prophet's holy relic, has seen renovation before. The most feted one, under Sheikh Abdullah in 1968-79, yielded its present marble avatar. But now, the J&K Waqf Board's yearlong revamp has hit the headlines for a different kind of novelty.

Some of it was enchanting fusion: newly painted interiors got custom-made Turkish chandeliers, woven into a native architectural space, whispering cordially with the traditional khatamband ceiling art. But that wasn't the only new entry. Also on a wall was an inauguration plaque, with the Ashokan national emblem engraved on it.