Ashoka Emblem Hazratbal: A mob vandalised the Ashoka Emblem plaque at Srinagar’s Hazratbal shrine, and it has triggered a political row, with the J&K Waqf Chair and BJP leader calling it nothing short of a “terrorist attack”. Kashmiris and local leaders argue that the presence of the National Emblem inside the shrine violates the basic principles of Islam.
National emblem defaced
The National Emblem was inscribed on a marble stone slab installed after the restoration work was completed at the shrine by the Waqf Board. A video of people desecrating it using a brick has gone viral on social media.
In the video, several men can be seen chanting slogans inside the shrine while taking turns to chip away at the Ashoka Emblem plaque. They claim that Islam prohibits idol worship and that the emblem violates the very tenet. Many Muslim leaders in Kashmir have lashed out at the Waqf over the inscription of the Ashoka Emblem, saying that idol worship is prohibited in Islam.
Another video, which is also viral on social media, claims that after the men finished damaging the plaque, women joined in.
‘It is a terrorist attack’: Waqf chair
Dr Syed Darkshan Andrabi, who inaugurated it, has demanded a case against those who defaced the emblem on the foundation stone of the Hazratbal Shrine. She also said that one of her administrators had a narrow escape as the mob targeted him, too.
“I request the LG and DGP to arrest all those goons who created a scene at Dargah Hazratbal today. The case should also be registered against the legislator whose men were involved in the protest and whose tweet provoked the people,” HT quoted her as saying.
Taking to X, she said, “This incident is very unfortunate. Tarnishing the national emblem is a terrorist attack, and the attackers are the goons of a political party. These people destroyed Kashmir earlier as well, and now they have openly come inside the Dargah Sharif. Our administrator had a narrow escape. The mob attacked him as well… This mob has committed a huge crime by tarnishing the national emblem. They have damaged the dignity of the dargah, and once they are identified, they will be banned from entering the dargah for life, and an FIR will be filed against them.”
“If they aren’t arrested. I will begin a hunger strike,” she further stated.
‘Sacred spaces must reflect Tawheed’
National Conference (NC) legislator Tanvir Sadiq said that since idol worship is forbidden in Islam, sacred spaces must “reflect” that.
“I’m not a religious scholar, but in Islam, idol worship is strictly forbidden. The foundation of our faith is Tawheed (unity of God). Placing a sculpted figure at the revered Hazratbal Dargah goes against this very belief. Sacred spaces must reflect only the purity of Tawheed, nothing else,” Sadiq wrote on X.
‘Not an act of devotion but arrogance’
MP Srinagar Aga Syed Ruhullag Mehdi has also strongly reacted to the inscription of the National Emblem, saying that it is not an act of “devotion” but rather of “arrogance”.
“Attempts to monumentalise egos inside Hazratbal are not acts of devotion but of arrogance. A sacred place that has stood for centuries needs no one’s nameplate for legitimacy. People were rightly offended by this dangerous attempt to play with religious sensitivities for self-glorification,” Aga Ruhullah wrote on X.
“Hazratbal has seen reconstructions before, but never were such means used to claim credit. Any talk of using the PSA in this case only adds insult to injury. It is foolish, unacceptable, and an assault on people’s attachment to their beloved shrine,” he added.
‘Labelling Kashmiris as terrorists…’
PDP leader Iltija Mufti said that labelling protestors as “terrorists” represents the BJP’s “punitive and communal” mindset.
“Labelling Kashmiris as ‘terrorists’ just because they expressed their anger on something which hurt their religious sentiments & asking police to slap them with the PSA reflects BJP’s punitive & communal mindset. The Waqf board should certainly have been more mindful & sensitive. It seems that Muslims are being deliberately provoked,” she wrote on X.
What is the Ashoka Emblem?
Ashoka Emblem is the National Emblem of India. It is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Asoka at Sarnath and was adopted on January 26, 1950.
“The profile of the Lion Capital showing three lions mounted on the abacus with a Dharma Chakra in the centre, a bull on the right and a galloping horse on the left, and outlines of Dharma Chakras on the extreme right and left was adopted as the national emblem,” according to the government’s Know India portal.