Srinagar: J&K Waqf Board has dismissed the cleric of Srinagar’a Hazratbal shrine and initiated an inquiry against him over an alleged forced conversion.
According to News Agency UNI, Kamal-ud-din Farooqui, previously the Imaam-o-Khateeb of Aasar-i-Shareef, Hazratbal, has been relieved of his duties pending investigation.
The incident occured on Jumat-ul-Vida, the last Friday of Ramadan, when a video surfaced showing a non-local converting to Islam at the shrine. Subsequently, the J&K Police registered an FIR against a Srinagar resident, accusing him of coercing his domestic help, a non-local, into conversion.
Responding to the allegations, the Waqf Board stated that Farooqui had allegedly presided over the forcible conversion during Friday prayers. An emergency meeting convened at the Central Waqf office on Monday spotlighted ‘procedural irregularities’ in the conversion process, as per an order by the Executive Magistrate (Tehsildar) Waqf Board cited by UNI.
“During the conversion, neither Islamic law nor government regulations were followed," Waqf said.
The inquiry committee, tasked with investigating the matter, has been instructed to submit a factual report within seven days.
It was not, however, known who complained to the police about the alleged forcible conversion.
