Jammu Kashmir Police have registered an FIR in connection with the defacing of the Ashoka emblem on a plaque inside the Hazratbal shrine in summer capital Srinagar which created a political furore in the UT and drew strong reactions from all over the country.
Even as the political reactions from various parties are still pouring in, most of them trying to justify the anger of the mob, sources said that a case under FIR No. 76 of 2025 under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) stands registered at police station Nigeen.
Earlier on Friday, a group among the locals damaged an Ashoka emblem on the inaugural stone inside the Hazratbal Dargah after objecting to its installation, saying the emblem was against Islamic principles and should not be placed in a shrine.Following the damage, J&K Waqf Board Chairperson Darakhshan Andrabi termed the act a grave insult to the shrine and called it “nothing less than terrorism.” She appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and law enforcement agencies for immediate arrests, alleging that the chaos was “deliberately engineered by political workers and their supporters.”
PDP President Mehbooba Mufti speaking on the issue on Saturday demanded legal action against those responsible for installing the controversial inauguration plaque bearing the State Emblem inside the Hazratbal shrine, invoking Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code that deals with deliberate acts intended to outrage religious sentiments.
Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, the former chief minister said the move had deeply hurt the religious feelings of Muslims and those responsible should be booked under the law. “Instead of taking action against those who defaced the emblem out of religious sentiment, the government should lodge an FIR against the Waqf Board chairperson and members who allowed such an act. Hazratbal is a religious place, not a venue for coronation or political symbolism,” Mehbooba said.
She castigated Waqf Board Chairperson Darakhshan Andrabi for demanding PSA against those who vandalised the plaque. “Calling the Home Minister of India to slap PSA on locals is unacceptable. The real question is who permitted installation of the emblem in a shrine where there is no concept of idol worship,” she added.
”PDP representative Iltija Mufti reacted sharply to Andrabi's statement, saying that “labelling Kashmiris as ‘terrorists’ just because they expressed their anger at something which hurt their religious sentiments, and asking police to slap them with PSA, reflects BJPs punitive and communal mindset.” She added: “The waqf board should certainly have been more mindful & sensitive. It seems that Muslims are being deliberately being provoked.”
“This was not a BJP function. Unfortunately, the sanctity of Hazratbal was compromised in this manner,” she remarked.
Srinagar MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi described it as an attempt to “monumentalise egos” inside a sacred place while NC MLA Tanvir Sadiq said the installation of a sculpted emblem contradicted the Islamic principle of Tawheed.
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