FIR lodged, parties spar as Hazratbal row intensifies

The J&K Police has filed a case against unknown people amid a raging controversy over the alleged vandalisation of the Ashoka emblem at the Hazratbal shrine in Kashmir, with chief minister Omar Abdullah seeking an apology from the Waqf Board for the “mistake” while asserting that the national emblem is meant for government functions, not religious institutions.

- Mir Ehsan

The Opposition BJP-led Waqf Board, however, slammed the defacement and said that “tarnishing the national emblem is a terrorist attack”.

Earlier on Friday, locals damaged an Ashoka emblem on a plaque inside the Hazratbal shrine — the most revered shrine for Muslims in Jammu & Kashmir that houses the relic of Prophet Mohammed — saying that the emblem had idols or carvings of animals that are forbidden inside Islamic religious sites. The plaque was inaugurated inside the shrine on Wednesday after the Waqf Board, led by senior BJP leader Darakhshan Andrabi, carried out some development works.

The incident has since triggered a political storm, with the Waqf chairperson labelling the protesters as “terrorists”, and seeking registration of FIR against them under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA).

On Friday, locals damaged an Ashoka emblem in the shrine.