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Chaos, anger blaze through Valley as fire destroys 200-year-old Sufi shrine Peer Dastgeer Sahib
Separatist, Jihad Council calls it a ‘conspiracy’, call for strike; Govt announces probe; 30 cops among 69 injured: DGP
Baba Umar
Srinagar
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Photo: Abid Bhatt |
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After months of tranquility an inferno that devastated a 200-year-old Sufi shrine Peer Dastgeer Sahib in Srinagar’s downtown Khanyar on Monday 25 June, plunged Kashmir back into chaos. In its wake, the blaze triggered an anti-New Delhi protest by locals who were enraged over what they called ‘a sluggish reaction by fire fighters’ and ‘poor arrangements’ by the Waqf Board, the shrine’s guardian.
The fire that began at 6:30 am on Monday also saw angry youth blocking key city routes and hurling rocks on the cops throughout the day that resulted in the injuries to 69 person including 30 cops even as rumors and theories continue to run rife over what and who could have been behind the incident.
While the state government was quick in announcing a probe and making reconstruction pledges, separatist leaders, civil society groups and the Valley’s largest religious body Muttahida Ulema-e-Ahli Sunnat-Wal-Jamaat rejected these promises. They demanded an impartial probe and called for a two-day mourning. The National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have also decided to abandon their political activities for two days.
Eyewitnesses told TEHELKA that the fire began in the wooden shrine in the morning but a delayed response by fire fighters compounded the destruction of the widely-revered Muslim shrine famous for its traditional chandeliers and latticed windows.
“The first two fire tenders didn’t have any water in it. Adding to this, the Waqf Board hadn’t kept any fire extinguishers in the heritage shrine. Within minutes the fire that started from the tomb burnt down the entire structure,” an eyewitness said. However, Director General Fire and Emergency Service GA Bhat claimed his crew was stopped from spraying what people called ‘impure water’ on the shrine.
“We ferried water from a lagoon which was the only source available. The locals stopped us from using this water to douse the fire. They said it was impure for the shrine,” he said. The official said more than 30 fire tenders and 400 employees took part in the firefighting operation and allegations that fire tenders were empty are “baseless”. “People attacked and damaged 23 of our vehicles. One was completely burnt down” added Bhat.
Earlier while some unnamed government officials reasoned short circuit as cause of fire, the caretaker of the shrine Syed Khalid Hussain Geelani told TEHELKA that there was no electricity in the shrine when the fire erupted. “With no water in fire tenders, I along with some local youth risked our lives to save the holy relics and manuscripts,” he said.
The holy relic, Geelani claimed to have saved and later confirmed by the government, includes a strand of hair from the beard of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jeelani, popularly known as Peer Dastgeer Sahib or 'Ghaus-ul-Azam', that was kept in a fire-proof container. The relic of the 11th century saint—who’s buried in the Iraqi capital Baghdad—was brought to Kashmir by an Afghan governor Abdullah Khan during the Afghan rule in Kashmir.
The Muslim shrine has for centuries served as a midpoint of Islamic and spiritual teachings in Kashmir. As the fire spread uncontrolled the streets saw scenes of mourning. Woomen beat their chests and wailed while angry young men pelted stones at the cavalcade of senior National Conference leader Ali Mohammad Sagar and some beat up pro-Azadi leaders Shabir Shah and Nayeem Khanwho had come to visit the spot. The chaos soon escalated into stone pelting at many places in Srinagar that continued till late evening.
Director General of Police K Rajendra said 69 persons including 30 policemen were injured in the clashes even as police has started investigation. The government also announced a parallel probe and has asked a team headed by the Divisional Commissioner to submit its report within seven days.
In a hurriedly called press conference, the NC leader Ali Mohammad Sagar while expressing grief said, “We have a digital image of the shrine and we will soon start work on building a replica of the old shrine.” Religious bodies like the one lead by Maulana Ghulam Rasool Hami of Muttahida Ulema-e-Ahli Sunnat-Wal-Jamaat rejected the government probe announcements. He didn’t ruled out possibility of a conspiracy.
“It’s a conspiracy against Sunni shrines,” he told media. “The government has launched several probes in past similar incidents but till date we don’t know what happened to those probes. In the current case we want religious ulemas to be a part of the probe.” Hami also held state government and Waqf Board—autonomous body that looks after Valley’s shrines—accountable for the inferno.
Hurriyat Conference (M) led by Mirvaiz Umar Farooq and Hurriyat Conference (G) led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani have both termed the incident as “a conspiracy against Kashmiri Muslims” and have supported strike call on Tuesday. United Jihad Council (UJC) Syed Salahuddin in a communiqué called the fire incident “the second biggest conspiracy after the stealing of Prophet’s relic in 1964.”
Baba Umar is a Correspondent with Tehelka.
babaumar@tehelka.com
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