Hazratbal row: Installing national emblem at shrine hurt people’s sentiments, says Omar Abdullah

Srinagar: J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday questioned the installation of an emblem at the Hazratbal Shrine, adding that there was no requirement for it and the error should have been acknowledged instead of defended.

Omar Abdullah said: “The first question is whether such a plaque should have been installed there in the first place. I have never seen this emblem being used in any religious institution or any function before. Then why was there a need to put up such a stone? If the work was good enough, people themselves would have recognised it.”

Omar recalled that his grandfather, Late Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, had given the present shape to the Hazratbal shrine, but did not install any plaque or emblem for the recognition of the work done by him.

“Even today, people remember his work without any nameplate. That shows the stone was never needed,” the CM said.

Answering a question on the reaction to the defacing of the national emblem by the Waqf Board chairperson, Darakhshan Andrabi, against those who caused damage to the national emblem, Omar said that people’s sentiments were played with, and an apology should have been offered, but no one did that.

“The emblem is meant only for government offices. It cannot be used in any religious institution, whether it is a temple, mosque, or shrine,” he said.

The police have registered an FIR against those who defaced the national emblem at the Hazratbal shrine. The FIR, however, does not name anyone involved in the incident, as the identification of the miscreants is a matter of investigation.

Meanwhile, former Chief Minister and People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Mehbooba Mufti, has demanded an FIR against the Waqf board chairperson for installing the plaque at the shrine in the first place.

Addressing a press conference, Mehbooba said the move to install an emblem at Hazratbal 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,” she said.

IANS