SRINAGAR (Kashmir English): The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has strongly condemned the installation of a board bearing the Ashoka emblem at the Hazratbal Dargah in Srinagar by the Indian occupation authorities, calling it a blatant violation of Islamic teachings.
The APHC stressed that valiant, self-respecting Kashmiri Muslims will never tolerate such offensive acts.
According to Kashmir Media Service, APHC spokesperson Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas in a statement in Srinagar said that the BJP-run IIOJK Waqf Board installed the board during recent renovations at the Hazratbal shrine, where the sacred relic of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is kept.
He said the board carried the Ashoka emblem, linked to the last major Mauryan emperor of Buddhism, which contradicts the monotheistic teachings of Islam.
The emblem, he added, deeply hurt the Kashmiri Muslim sentiments, prompting worshippers to remove it.
Minhas said that the Waqf Board’s so-called chairperson, Darakhshan Andrabi, acting under BJP and RSS directives, had installed the emblem.
He described the act as a severe and direct attack on the fundamental Islamic belief in Tawheed, which is entirely unacceptable to Kashmiri Muslims.
Praising the vigilance of Kashmiri Muslims, Minhas urged them to remain alert and monitor other locations for similar installations by the BJP, warning that such acts are part of a broader conspiracy against the Islamic identity of Jammu and Kashmir.
He noted that just as Hindu extremist groups in India make baseless claims over mosques, shrines, and dargahs, similar attempts may gradually be made in Kashmir, endangering the security and existence of its religious sites.
He called on the Kashmiri Muslims to strongly protest against such anti-Islamic activities.
Kashmiri people will never forgive BJP, RSS facilitators
He further stated that the Kashmiri people will never forgive BJP and RSS facilitators in the occupied territory, warning that they will face the same fate as those who betray their religion, homeland, and nation.
The APHC spokesperson also condemned BJP leader Darakhshan Andrabi’s statement wherein she called for the arrest of those who removed the Ashoka emblem and the application of the draconian Public Safety Act against them.
