The controversial, self-styled Grand Mufti of Jammu and Kashmir, Bashir-ud-din, said yesterday that he opposed the Narendra Modi government’s move to rehabilitate Kashmiri Pandits in three separate settlements. The Pandit community of the Kashmir valley was forced to leave their home in 1990, during the armed uprising against Indian rule.
Bashir-ud-din issued the statement under the banner of Masjlis Itihad-e-Millat – a joint representative forum of religious organisations, including Jamat-e-Islami and Jamiat-e-Ahli Hadees. Opposing the construction of the three designated colonies by the central government in Kashmir for the community, Bashir said it would have dangerous consequences and could spark protest. The move to rehabilitate Pandits in the colonies has also been opposed by separatist groups, who have called for a strike on Friday as Modi visits Srinagar. Such statements quite commonly come from separatists, but who exactly is the Grand Mufti?
A post-graduate from Aligarh Muslim University, Bashir was given this title by the late Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, the state’s last prime minister, in the 1960s. Omar Abdullah’s government has maintained that Bashir has no official standing.
Bashir had accused the government of destroying the Dastageer Sahib shrine in 2012, which went up in flames, prompting the chief minister to say that he didn’t expect Bashir to fear him. “I would expect him, as a Mufti, to fear Allah when he makes baseless accusations,” Abdullah said.
Despite this public tiff, the Grand Mufti is generally thought to have the backing of the National Conference government. Separatist leaders and civil society alike strongly resent the Mufti, claiming he is patronised by the state government.
Bashir-ud-din continues to issue statements, fatwas (Islamic decree), and runs a parallel judicial system he calls the “Supreme Court of Shariet,” which operates without legal basis. In February 2013, he asked an all-girls’ rock band, Pragaash, to stop performing music after issuing a fatwa, calling singing un-Islamic. Five months after this fatwa, he was himself seen sitting among the audience of a musical performance in a houseboat on Dal Lake, organised by Radio Kashmir in memory of Urdu poet Akbar Jaipuri. “He is a self-appointed religious leader who has been issuing fatwas, which project Kashmir and Kashmiris in bad light internationally,” Parvez Imroz, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society said.
In one fatwa in 2012, he ordered the expulsion of three Christian missionaries from Kashmir. He indicted the three priests, MC Khanna, Jim Borst and Gayoor Messah, accusing them of converting Muslim youths to Christianity. He ordered them to leave. In the decree, he stated that the state government must get involved in the management of missionary schools.
Official documents obtained by this reporter a year ago revealed that he has been using his court for personal benefit. Bashir had also written letters to various Christian missionary schools in the Valley to get admissions for family members. The request of at least one such letter, written to Burn Hall School in September 2011, was not considered by the school administration. The letter was written before he issued the fatwa against these missionary schools. The documents also revealed how the court was used to seek money from foreign governments for unknown projects and showed his close relationship with the government administration.
In September 2012, when a global controversy broke out over an anti-Islam film made in California, Bashir hit out at the United States, asking American citizens to leave Kashmir. He also incited people to commit violence through his statement, asking people to “attack US citizens if they are seen anywhere in the Valley.” Continuing his attacks against minorities in the Valley and the illegal decrees from his court, in May 2012 he asked legislators to declare Ahmadiyyas as non-Muslims through legislation in the state assembly. He said this while addressing a meeting organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Personal Board, which is also headed by him.
Bashir has also spoken on the debate over Article 370, which gives Jammu & Kashmir special status in the Indian Constitution. He termed Kashmir as India’s crown and said that Kashmir is not anyone’s personal property.
“It is due to Article 370 that India is in Kashmir,” he said. “Kashmir is not a personal enterprise of any one nor is it the integral part of any country. Article 370 guarantees India’s presence in Kashmir. Its repealing will endanger peace and harmony that could be difficult to control,” he had said. Later, in a statement, he refuted the above statement and said that Kashmir is illegally occupied by India and is in no way an integral part of India.
Bashir-ud-din issued the statement under the banner of Masjlis Itihad-e-Millat – a joint representative forum of religious organisations, including Jamat-e-Islami and Jamiat-e-Ahli Hadees. Opposing the construction of the three designated colonies by the central government in Kashmir for the community, Bashir said it would have dangerous consequences and could spark protest. The move to rehabilitate Pandits in the colonies has also been opposed by separatist groups, who have called for a strike on Friday as Modi visits Srinagar. Such statements quite commonly come from separatists, but who exactly is the Grand Mufti?
A post-graduate from Aligarh Muslim University, Bashir was given this title by the late Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, the state’s last prime minister, in the 1960s. Omar Abdullah’s government has maintained that Bashir has no official standing.
Bashir had accused the government of destroying the Dastageer Sahib shrine in 2012, which went up in flames, prompting the chief minister to say that he didn’t expect Bashir to fear him. “I would expect him, as a Mufti, to fear Allah when he makes baseless accusations,” Abdullah said.
Despite this public tiff, the Grand Mufti is generally thought to have the backing of the National Conference government. Separatist leaders and civil society alike strongly resent the Mufti, claiming he is patronised by the state government.
Bashir-ud-din continues to issue statements, fatwas (Islamic decree), and runs a parallel judicial system he calls the “Supreme Court of Shariet,” which operates without legal basis. In February 2013, he asked an all-girls’ rock band, Pragaash, to stop performing music after issuing a fatwa, calling singing un-Islamic. Five months after this fatwa, he was himself seen sitting among the audience of a musical performance in a houseboat on Dal Lake, organised by Radio Kashmir in memory of Urdu poet Akbar Jaipuri. “He is a self-appointed religious leader who has been issuing fatwas, which project Kashmir and Kashmiris in bad light internationally,” Parvez Imroz, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society said.
In one fatwa in 2012, he ordered the expulsion of three Christian missionaries from Kashmir. He indicted the three priests, MC Khanna, Jim Borst and Gayoor Messah, accusing them of converting Muslim youths to Christianity. He ordered them to leave. In the decree, he stated that the state government must get involved in the management of missionary schools.
Official documents obtained by this reporter a year ago revealed that he has been using his court for personal benefit. Bashir had also written letters to various Christian missionary schools in the Valley to get admissions for family members. The request of at least one such letter, written to Burn Hall School in September 2011, was not considered by the school administration. The letter was written before he issued the fatwa against these missionary schools. The documents also revealed how the court was used to seek money from foreign governments for unknown projects and showed his close relationship with the government administration.
In September 2012, when a global controversy broke out over an anti-Islam film made in California, Bashir hit out at the United States, asking American citizens to leave Kashmir. He also incited people to commit violence through his statement, asking people to “attack US citizens if they are seen anywhere in the Valley.” Continuing his attacks against minorities in the Valley and the illegal decrees from his court, in May 2012 he asked legislators to declare Ahmadiyyas as non-Muslims through legislation in the state assembly. He said this while addressing a meeting organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Personal Board, which is also headed by him.
Bashir has also spoken on the debate over Article 370, which gives Jammu & Kashmir special status in the Indian Constitution. He termed Kashmir as India’s crown and said that Kashmir is not anyone’s personal property.
“It is due to Article 370 that India is in Kashmir,” he said. “Kashmir is not a personal enterprise of any one nor is it the integral part of any country. Article 370 guarantees India’s presence in Kashmir. Its repealing will endanger peace and harmony that could be difficult to control,” he had said. Later, in a statement, he refuted the above statement and said that Kashmir is illegally occupied by India and is in no way an integral part of India.
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