SRINAGAR (PTI): Jammu and Kashmir government is likely to hand over the charge of Hazratbal Shrine to the Muslim Augaf Trust (MAT) in its bid to resolve the 10 month-old security bunker issue.
An official spokesman said the government has tried to establish a contact with the chairman and members of the Hazratbal Muslim Auqaf trust to ensure that devotees are not denied access to the Holy relic of prophet Mohammad enshrined in the 300-year-old Mosque.
Assuring government support to the trust in organizing the public display of the Holy relic, the spokesman said government would also lend support to the trust in discharging its sacred obligation of maintaining the safety of the relic and security of the Mosque.
He said the government impressed upon the management of the trust that all prescribed ceremonies connected with the display of the Holy relic must be performed “as quickly as possible.”
The shrine, which houses the sacred hair, believed to be of the prophet, came in the eye of storm when the army laid a siege of the shrine last year to flush out militants holed inside.
Army’s security bunker inside the shrine complex has become a bone contention with most of the militant groups opposing army’s presence, Outlawed Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front is holding an indefinite strike demanding the removal of the bunkers.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 12, 1994
