By The Wire Staff
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir’s largest conglomerate of Islamic religious groups Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU) as well as the ruling National Conference (NC) and other political parties have objected to the alleged profiling of mosques by police, terming it as an “attempt to control religious institutions” in Kashmir.
“Mosques are sacred institutions meant for worship, guidance and community service, and their internal religious affairs cannot be subjected to arbitrary surveillance and intrusive scrutiny,” the MMU said in a statement on Tuesday (January 13), referring to an “ongoing police exercise” in Kashmir.
Calling for protecting the “autonomy of religious institutions” and upholding the “constitutional guarantees of religious freedom, privacy and dignity of citizens”, the MMU has urged the lieutenant governor-led administration to withdraw the exercise.
“The elected government must immediately intervene in this matter. Such an exercise must be stopped forthwith, as it undermines trust, creates fear among religious functionaries and sends a disturbing message to the Muslim community of the state,” the MMU said.
J&K police report directly to the lieutenant governor while the elected government led by chief minister Omar Abdullah has no control over law and order and other security issues in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The MMU statement came in the backdrop of a report in The Indian Express on January 13 which said that the J&K police were seeking information about the mosques in Kashmir and the people associated with them, including the imams, preachers and other members of their managing bodies.
Barring some, all the mosques in Kashmir are managed by a group of respectable people drawn from the neighbourhoods who are tasked with appointing the imams for leading the prayers and managing the donations which are also used for funding the day-to-day expenses at these institutions.
In most areas of J&K, the imams, after obtaining permission from the managing bodies, also run Islamic seminaries which take care of the religious education of children in the neighbourhood.
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