Hazratbal plaque vandalism row : BJP vows strict action; Omar Abdullah asks why was national emblem at a shrine?

NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday condemned the defacement of plaque bearing National Emblem at Srinagar's Hazratbul Shrine. However, he said that the plaque should not have been placed in religious places in the first place.

While talking to reporters, Abdullah said that LG-led J&K government should focus on work instead of "putting a stone."

"The first question is whether that emblem should have been there at all? I haven’t seen an emblem in such religious places. What was the need for that stone? Why not focus on work instead of putting a stone? If your work is good, people will recognize it naturally," Abdullah said.
"They made a mistake - it shouldn’t have happened. But you played with people’s emotions and should have apologised. Temples, mosques, and gurudwaras are religious places, not government institutions,” he added.

This comes a day after unidentified worshippers defaced the inauguration plaque bearing the National Emblem of India at Hazratbal Shrine after Friday prayers. The shrine is undergoing reconstruction and redevelopment under the Waqf Board .

The Hazratbal Shrine is a revered religious site in Srinagar, housing the holy relic of the Prophet Mohammad.

Meanwhile, J&K Waqf Board chairperson and BJP politician Darakhshan Andrabi blamed National Conference for the incident.

Andrabi responded from the shrine itself, holding a press conference on Friday evening where she said, “Those who broke the emblem at Hazratbal Dargah should be booked under the PSA. It is like a cloudburst that broke on me after I saw the emblem being broken.”

She also asked police and waqf officials to bodily search the MLA if and when he visits the shrine “so that there are no currency notes in his pocket (because they bear the National Emblem).