J&K: FIR filed after plaque with Ashoka emblem vandalised at Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar

The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday filed a first information report after an inauguration plaque with the Ashoka emblem placed inside the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar was vandalised, Greater Kashmir reported.

The Islamic shrine houses a holy relic of Prophet Muhammad. The structure had recently undergone a renovation and was inaugurated by Darakshan Andrabi, chairperson of the Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board and a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, The Hindu reported.

A plaque featuring the national emblem was also installed at the site, which sparked criticism, the Hindustan Times reported. On Friday, protesters allegedly damaged the inauguration plaque with stones and chanted slogans, saying that the emblem went against Islamic principles.

Videos of the vandalism were shared widely on social media.

Following this, Andrabi said that the act was a “grave insult” to the shrine and described it as “nothing less than terrorism”, Greater Kashmir reported.

She urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and law enforcement agencies to arrest those involved in the act, claiming that it was “deliberately engineered by political workers and their supporters”.

On Saturday, an unidentified police officer told PTI that a case had been registered at the Nigeen Police Station following the incident at Hazratbal.

The case was filed under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to voluntarily disturbing an assembly lawfully performing religious worship or ceremonies, intentional insults...

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