Litmus test for govt as Eid Milad approaches in J&K

There will be no restrictions. At least the police have not approached me with anything on this.

BASEER KHAN, divisional commissioner

SRINAGAR:THE Jammu and Kashmir government will be facing a litmus test on coming Sunday when thousands of devotees from different parts of Kashmir will converge at Dargah Hazratbal Shrine here on the occasion of Eid Milad, celebrating the birth of last prophet of Islam.

Eid Milad is one of the biggest religious occasions in Kashmir after Eid-ul-fitr and Eid-ul-azuha. Apart from congregations at Dargah Hazratbal, which is located on the banks of the Dal Lake, people take out processions in certain parts of the Valley.

However, in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370, the authorities have been imposing restrictions in parts of the Valley amid apprehensions of protests after Friday prayers besides preventing processions on the occasion of Muharram.

More recently, on Friday, police imposed restrictions and prevented people from assembling at the Khwaja Naqashband shrine, where thousands of people offer congregational prayers every year on Rabi-ul-awal, the 3rd month of the Islamic Calendar. Kashmir divisional commissioner Baseer Khan, who earlier reviewed the arrangements for the Eid Milad at the Hazratbal Shrine, said no communication regarding imposition of restrictions has been received so far.

“There will be no restrictions. At least police have not approached me with anything on this,” Khan said. Officials of J&K Wakf Board, which manages the shrines in Kashmir, were also hopeful that the function would be allowed and pass off peacefully.