Srinagar: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and Congress leader Shahnawaz Choudhary on Wednesday strongly criticised the profiling of mosques and imams in Kashmir, terming it an intrusion into the religious affairs of Muslims and a move that undermines India’s secular fabric.
Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said that if religious places were to be profiled, the exercise should begin with temples across the country. “The latest order for mosques is interference in our religious affairs. If they have to do it, then they should start with other religions,” she said, according to PTI. She questioned whether authorities would seek details of priests, caste-based access to temples and the money charged for entry.
Mufti said the police already possess records of mosques and their land holdings in Jammu and Kashmir, but seeking photographs, Aadhaar details and personal information of imams and maulvis amounts to intimidation. “This kind of profiling is meant to keep Muslims away from their religion in J-K,” she alleged.
She said imams and mosque management committees were terrified by the exercise, adding that the five-page proforma made it appear as if religious functionaries were being treated like overground workers. “Details are being sought as if mosques are crime scenes,” she said, daring the government to apply the same measures to gurdwaras and churches, and warning that mosques across the country could be next.
Congress leader Shahnawaz Choudhary also condemned the move, calling it “excessive and punitive.” The AICC secretary and district president of the Pradesh Congress Committee for Poonch said collectively suspecting an entire religion or community is unconstitutional and dangerous for the country’s social harmony.
Authorities have initiated the profiling of mosques, madrassas and persons associated with their management in the Union Territory following the busting of a “white-collar” terror module last year. As part of the process, village numberdars have been issued a proforma to collect details of mosques, madrassas, imams, teachers and management committee members.
