Let Waqf Board be open to criticism
Aubaid Ahmed Akhoon
The incident that took place few days ago in Sharda Sharif is reprehensible. It is not permissible for girls to be involved in such activities and from a religious point of view it is also a forbidden act.
The existence of a woman is modesty and modesty is a fundamental component of faith. Making a video of one’s own obscene dance in a sacred place and then proudly uploading it to social networking sites is an illegal and unconscious activity. The girls later apologized on social networking sites, but from a religious point of view this is a sensitive issue and the more it is criticized, the less it will be.
The land of Kashmir is the land of the saints. The pious servants of Allah have made great sacrifices for the promotion of the true religion along with the rest of the world, the saints also turned to Kashmir for the purpose of strengthening Islam, so you will see the shrines of many religious leaders here.
According to official website of Waqf Board An organization called “Idara Auqaf Islamia” was created with Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah as the founder President and most of the shrines, mosques and other Waqf properties including the sacred shrine of Hazratbal, also brought under its control.
A Constitution was framed which provided setting up of Majlis-i-Uzama (General Council) as the Supreme authority and a Majlis-i-Intizamia (Working Committee) for smooth and democratic functioning of the organization for protecting, maintaining and managing the shrines, mosques and other properties affiliated with the Idara.
In 1973 the Majlis-i-Uzama considered it necessary to transform the organization into a Trust for general welfare and efficient management of the ever-growing constituent units of Muslim Waqfs, Khanquahs, Mosques, Shrines, other religious places and institutions and properties attached thereto.
On August 31, 1973 in a huge gathering of Muslims at Hazratbal, it was resolved that the Idara Auqaf-i-Islamia be transformed into a Trust called “All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Auqaf Trust’ with Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah as the First Trustee and Chairman for life.
The Trust Deed was drawn on September 23, 1973. He was succeeded by Dr. Farooq Abdullah as Chairman and Managing Trustee with effect from September 8,1982.
Judging by the performance of the Waqf Board, the institution has not yet woken up from its slumber and has not yet made any effort to open its eyes and fulfill its responsibilities. The committees set up for shrines have failed at every level. This incident would not have happened if the employees working in the endowments had been present there. The feelings of millions of believers would not have been hurt in this way.
Why the unveiled girls were not stopped at the entry point? Why the Waqf Board has not set special conditions for the pilgrims? These are the questions to which the Waqf administration is unable to answer. Till date, the institution has not done anything that we can be proud of.
The Kashmiri people have not forgotten the pain of Khanyar shrine’s negligence till now. Now the new Khanyar shrine has been built but the shrine that caught fire due to negligence was a great masterpiece of craftsmanship, a national capital full of spirituality. The people have been kept unaware of the real cause of the fire till date and we do not hope that we will get the answer to the negligence in the future.
It is not my intention to estimate the revenue of the Waqf Board but it cannot compete with the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board in relieving the people who have built hospitals, colleges, universities in a short span of time. And they are also active in helping many poor families and underprivileged people. We do not want all this from the Waqf Board officials because the Waqf Board has its own needs. But for God’s sake, just do your work gracefully and professionally.
“The truth always come out in the end, no matter how hard anyone tries to hide it or stop it. Lies are just a temporary delay to the inevitable”
(The author is working as Sr Edp head at DD Target PMT Parraypora. He can be reached at [email protected])