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Ashoka emblem vandalised at Srinagar's Hazratbal shrine, BJP vows strict action | Video
Omar Abdullah's party said, the placement of Ashoka emblem at the shrine violated Islamic principles, which forbid idol worship.
The engraving of the national emblem on the renovation plaque of Hazratbal Shrine was vandalised by unknown people in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar on Friday, leading to a massive row.
A video has gone viral showing several men vandalising the Ashoka emblem. The vandalism comes after some locals and political leaders said that the display of any figures or shapes at Muslim religious sites goes against Islamic tenets.
Devotees who visited the revered shrine, which houses a relic of the Prophet Mohammad, criticised the Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board for inscribing the Ashoka emblem on the inauguration stone inside the sacred premises.
The development comes as the Hazratbal Shrine recently underwent renovation, and the reconstruction project was inaugurated by Waqf chairperson Dr Darakshan Andrabi. The plaque installed at the site, etched with the national emblem, that soon caught attention and drew sharp criticism from religious leaders and the public.
Following the backlash, some people broke the inauguration plaque on Friday, removing the national emblem. While the move was condemned from the BJP, the NC called the installation of the plaque bearing the emblem “a direct affront to religious sentiments”.
'Direct affront to faith': NC
A statement from the ruling National Conference party, reshared by chief minister Omar Abdullah, said the placement of a sculpted figure at the shrine violated Islamic principles, which forbid idol worship.
“It is therefore a matter of grave concern that practices contrary to the fundamental principles of Islam, such as the use of pictorial or symbolic depictions of living beings, are being introduced inside the sacred Hazratbal shrine — the spiritual heart of our people where thousands gather every day for prayers," part of the statement read.
It also said, "For devotees, this is not a small matter but a direct affront to their deeply held religious sentiments.”
NC chief spokesperson and Zadibal MLA, Tanvir Sadiq, said, “I'm not a religious scholar but in Islam, idol worship is strictly forbidden — the gravest of sins. The foundation of our faith is Tawheed. Placing a sculpted figure at the revered Hazratbal Dargah goes against this very belief. Sacred spaces must reflect only the purity of Tawheed, nothing else,” a post on X said.
BJP and Waqf Board respond
BJP leader and Waqf chairperson Dr Darakshan Andrabi called the incident "very unfortunate," describing the damage to the national emblem as a criminal act.
“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… They have damaged the dignity of the dargah, and once they are identified, they will be banned from entering the dargah for life, and an FIR will be filed against them,” news agency ANI quoted Andrabi as saying.
Andrabi also accused groups of politicizing the issue, adding that those opposing the use of the national emblem should not carry currency notes featuring it when visiting the shrine.
