National Conference Saturday staged a massive protest against the decision of the Waqf Board to ban the tradition of donations at Muslim Khanqahs across Kashmir. The Youth Wing of the party raised slogans outside Party Headquarters in Kashmir’s capital Srinagar.
Later on party senior leader Ali Muhammad Sagar addressed a press conference and termed the decision as undue interference in the religious and traditional practices of people.
He said attempts are being made to malign the image of Muslims. “The Government should not defame the image of Muslims and hurt their sentiments. Due to the presence of Khanqahs, Kashmir is called ‘Pir Var’ (Land of Sages) and for centuries, people are offering donations at will without being forced. This is called belief and faith and one has no right to dictate the terms,” he said, as per Srinagar-based news agency, Kashmir News Trust.
Sagar as per news agency Kashmir News Trust said that everywhere people offer donations. He said Hindus offer donations in temples and Sikhs in Gurudwaras and then why only Muslims are being targeted and a different narrative is being propagated to tarnish the image of respectable citizens.
“If someone is doing wrong, he should be taken to task but it is not fair to defame everyone in the Waqf Board that has so many achievements to its credit,” Sagar said adding that the latest diktat of Waqf sans logic
“There is nothing like ‘forced donations’ happening at the Khanqahs as the order claims. Everyone who comes to these Khanqahs donates either in cash or kind out of their own free will. The move to ban this age-old practice is not only prejudiced towards the spiritual and religious practices of people but puts a big question mark on the real intentions of the government,” he said.
Pertinently, BJP leader Darakshan Andrabi recently took control of the Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board. (KNT)