Hazratbal row
Srinagar: More than 50 persons have been detained for questioning in connection with the vandalisation of a plaque with the Ashoka emblem in the Hazratbal shrine here as police intensified searches for those involved in the incident, officials said on Sunday.
The police checked the videos and CCTV footage of the incident that occurred after the Friday congregational prayers, following which these people were detained, they said.
“No one has been formally arrested so far but some people are being questioned,” a senior police official said.
The official said action “as per law will also be taken against women who vandalised the plaque but any minor found involved in the incident will not be proceeded against”.
A huge controversy erupted in Kashmir after the plaque with the Ashoka emblem was vandalised in the Hazratbal shrine on Friday, with political parties accusing Waqf Board chief Darakshan Andrabi of hurting religious sentiments by using the national emblem in the mosque.
They demanded registration of a criminal case and her immediate removal.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said the Waqf Board should apologise for the “mistake,” asserting that the national emblem is meant for government functions, not religious institutions.
While parties like the NC, PDP and the CPI(M) said the use of the Ashoka emblem in the mosque was “provocative” and blasphemous, the BJP slammed the defacement of the plaque, claiming the incident was an attempt to revive terrorism and separatism in the Valley.
The plaque was placed inside the Hazratbal shrine, which houses a relic of Prophet Muhammad, on Thursday, sparking outrage among devotees who maintained that placing any figure or symbol inside a mosque is against the Islamic principle of monotheism.
The plaque was subsequently vandalised and removed by unidentified individuals after Friday prayers, prompting police to register a case.
“I have never seen an emblem being used in this way in any religious place. Mosques, shrines, temples and gurudwaras are not government institutions. These are religious institutions and government emblems are not used in religious institutions,” Abdullah said.
Andrabi, a BJP appointee, called for legal action, including booking the “hooligans” under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA), for vandalising the emblem.
