Committee formed to probe 3 Islamic shrines in Jaipur college
Bharat Sharma, Chief of the Dharohar Bachao Sanrakshan Samiti, alleged that the shrines were constructed as part of a conspiracy by the Waqf to usurp the college land. Sharma urged the authorities to remove the shrines and warned of agitation if no action is taken.The committee has been directed to submit its report within four days. The investigation will be based on CCTV footage, statements of former staff members, and testimonies from students currently studying at the college.- Ends
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Hindustan Times
14 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Third year in a row, 8th Muharram procession held from traditional route in Srinagar
Thousands of people from the Shia community peacefully participated in the 8th Muharram procession from its traditional route in Srinagar on Friday, third year in a row, after the authorities decided to continue the religious event after 34 years, in 2023. People from Shia community during 8th Muharram processions in Srinagar on Friday. (Waseem Andrabi/HT) The month of Muharram is remembered for the sacrifice of Imam Hussain (AS) and his companions in a seventh-century battle in Karbala, present day Iraq. The marchers chanted Islamic slogans, commemorating the martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Hussain (peace be upon him), and marched early morning from Guru Bazar through MA Road culminating the march at Dalgate, the traditional path of the event. 'For 35 years we have attempted to take out this procession from this route and we don't want any mistake on our part which again stops this. We make all the effort to make this smooth and thank you for the cooperation,' Masroor Abbas Ansari, a Shia leader, told police officials during the procession. The government allowed the event for the third year in a row giving the community the time slot of 5 am to 8 am. The procession was banned during militancy from the early 1990s owing to law and order issues. However in 2023, after 34 years, the government allowed the event which is being organised peacefully since the last three years. Volunteers of the community, police as well as the administration had arranged for drinking water, sanitation, sprinkling and other facilities for the ease of the marchers. The traffic department had diverted the traffic movement to other routes. Kashmir divisional commissioner Vijay Kumar Bidhuri, Srinagar deputy commissioner Akshay Labroo and Srinagar senior superintendent of police G V Sundeep served water to people at the iconic Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Friday as a mark of respect for the tradition of Muharram. Bidhuri said that all necessary arrangements had been made by the police to ensure the safe and secure conduct of the event, as thousands of devotees participated in the 8th Muharram procession. 'This is the third consecutive year that Muharram is being observed. The district administration has made all necessary arrangements for the 'azadaars(mourner)',' Bidhuri said. 'Police arrangements have been made with safety and security as the top priority.' He requested people to keep the procession limited to its religious significance. 'One mistake by a single person can taint the whole event. The procession should continue like this peacefully,' he said. Director general of police, coordination PHQ, SJM Gilllani and IGP Kashmir Zone, Vidhi Kumar Birdi, took stock of the security of the religious event and also distributed drinks to the participants of the religious procession. 'This is Muharram-8 and a lot of arrangements have been made for the participants for a smooth procession. Besides, the security arrangements are complete,' the IGP said. He said that the administration, including police, was in touch with the organisers for the 10th Muharram processions in all districts. 'This is being done for smooth movement of participants and the religious processions,' he said. For the smooth movement of the procession, the Srinagar traffic police had issued a detailed traffic advisory to regulate vehicular movement in the city. To ensure smooth traffic flow and public safety, the authorities had made several diversions with complete halt on traffic movement from Karan Nagar towards Jehangir Chowk via Shaheed Gunj and Tankipora from 5 am to 8 am. In addition, traffic was not permitted from Jahangir Chowk towards the MA Road stretch leading up to Dalgate and Badyari Chowk from 5 am until the culmination of the religious procession. To accommodate the large number of participants, parking facilities had been arranged at three key locations — SP College ground, Gindun Park, and the Batmaloo bus stand.
Hans India
17 minutes ago
- Hans India
‘Robust security measures in place for Bibi-ka-Alam procession'
Hyderabad: Robust security arrangements have been put in place across Hyderabad city in observance of the Muharram procession, which is scheduled for Sunday, the Day of Ashura (10 Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar). On Friday, marking the 8th day of Muharram, Hyderabad City Police Commissioner C V Anand visited Bibi Ka Alawa in Dabeerpura, offering flowers and 'dattis' as he personally inspected the security and bandobast preparations. Hyderabad Deccan stands as one of India's prominent centres with a long-standing tradition of Muharram mourning. The 'Bibi-ka-Alam' is particularly notable as the most visible 'Alam' (replica) embodying the Deccan's unique tradition, though thousands also throng numerous other 'Ashoorkhanas' where alams are installed. Each year, during this annual 'Azadari' (mourning) procession, several thousand Shia Muslim mourners, often barefoot and bare-chested, engage in self-flagellation, commencing their march from Bibi-ka-Alawa in Dabeerpura and proceeding to Masjid-e-Ilahi in Chaderghat. During his visit on Friday, C V Anand stated that due to the large number of people expected on 9 and 10 Muharram, approximately 3,000 police personnel are being deployed as a precautionary measure to ensure the procession takes place peacefully. The Commissioner appealed for all necessary advance measures regarding traffic, safety, and security to be undertaken, and he requested public cooperation with the police to ensure peaceful Muharram observances. Regarding traffic management, Mr Anand noted, 'Additional police personnel have been brought in from outside, and measures have been taken under the supervision of the Traffic DCPs to ensure smooth traffic flow.' He acknowledged the possibility of snatchings, pickpocketing, and eve-teasing during procession times, but added, 'Our crime police and She Teams have been vigilant, curbing these activities and taking some individuals into custody.' Meanwhile, all necessary arrangements have been finalised by various departments, including the GHMC, R&B, HMWSSB, TSSPDCL, Zoo authorities (for the elephant), fire, and health services. In a significant development, an elephant named Lakshmi, belonging to Sri Sri Sri Jagad Guru Chenna Basava Rajendra Maha Samigal at Sri Karibasava Swamy Mutt in Horapete, Tumkur, Karnataka, arrived in the city on Friday night. This elephant will carry the traditional Bibi-ka-Alam procession on Sunday. The successful arrangement for bringing the elephant was made through the efforts of AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi. AIMIM MLC Riyaz ul Hasan Effendi personally travelled to Karnataka to escort the elephant to Hyderabad. Earlier, organisers had identified and selected an elephant in Delhi for the procession, but the Telangana Forest Department had denied permission citing animal welfare concerns and transport regulations. An official letter from the forest department stated, 'Keeping the safety and well-being of the elephant in view, permission cannot be granted for transport of the elephant from New Delhi to Hyderabad.' With the absence of the initial elephant, no rehearsals were conducted this year for the elephant ahead of the main procession.
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Govt notifies rules to implement Waqf Act
The Union government on Friday notified the rules that will operationalise the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, focussing largely on the functioning of the central portal where Islamic charitable endowments will be registered and leaving some finer details to the states. Muslims attend the 'Waqf Bachao - Dastur Bachao' conference at Gandhi Maidan in Patna, Bihar. (Santosh Kumar/HT photo) The 32-page document issued by the Union ministry of minority affairs is now set to be laid before Parliament during the upcoming monsoon session commencing July 21. HT first reported on June 20 that the rules would be published within 15 days. If Parliament makes any changes, the rules will be published in the gazette again, said a senior ministry official. 'The act in itself was quite elaborate so the rules have been kept short and to the point, mostly centering around the portal itself. Now the ministry's work is done and the rules will be laid in the upcoming Parliament session. The states have the biggest task now which is to make their own rules under the act,' said a senior ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The rules were framed under Section 108B, which was inserted into the 1995 Waqf Act by the amendments passed earlier this year and which allowed the Centre to make rules for waqf asset management system, registration, accounts, audit and other details of waqf, and the manner of payments for maintenance of widow, divorced woman and orphans. The Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) Rules, 2025 primarily operationalised the national UMEED portal launched last month, establishing a centralised digital database for Waqf properties supervised by the joint secretary of the ministry's waqf division. Key portal functions included filing detailed Waqf records, registering new Waqfs, maintaining electronic registers, submitting annual accounts, and auto-generating unique IDs for each Waqf and property. The rules establish a six-month deadline for uploading all existing Waqf properties onto the portal. State governments must publish surveyed lists of auqaf (plural of waqf) and upload them within 90 days of the rules' gazette publication, with possible 90-day extensions requiring stated reasons. 'Every mutawalli [custodian] shall enrol on the portal and database by using his mobile number and e-mail address through authentication by one time password received from the portal and database on the mobile and e-mail and thereafter be able to access the portal and database and file details of his waqf and property dedicated to the waqf,' the rules said. One of the most important provisions detailed in the new rules is about the registration of a new waqf. 'A waqf created after the commencement of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 shall make an application to the board for its registration under section 36 of the act within three months of its creation,' the rules said. The board, in this case, is the Central Waqf Board. The application for registration will have to be made on the portal and needs a description of the property, a copy of waqf deed, gross annual income, amount of land revenue, cesses, rates and taxes annually payable, estimate of the expenses, amount set aside for mutawalli, maintenance for widows, divorced women and orphans,and whether the property stood on protected or government land, among others. 'The collector shall inquire the genuineness and validity of the application and the particulars mentioned therein in accordance with the revenue laws…the collector shall submit the report to the board within a period of sixty days,' the rules said. This practically invalidates verbal waqf declarations, an age-old and controversial practice. It also effectively scraps the waqf-by-user provision – where a property is acknowledged as waqf because it has been used for religious activities for some time, despite there being no official declaration or registration as waqf – with prospective effect. The rules permit widows, divorced women, and orphans to apply for maintenance from dormant family waqfs (waqf-alal-aulad), requiring identity and residence proofs with payments made electronically. Waqf Boards must maintain electronic registers, publish audit reports online, and disclose board orders within 10 working days. Mutawallis must submit annual accounts electronically by October 1 each year, with the annual contribution to waqf boards capped at one crore rupees. An independent central agency will review the portal annually, and state governments must appoint nodal officers at the joint secretary level. 'On filing of the details of waqf and properties thereof by the mutawalli on the portal and database, the chief executive officer or any other officer duly authorised in writing by the board shall…certify the correctness of the information and particulars…within ten days,' the rules said. A waqf is a Muslim religious endowment, usually in the form of landed property, made for purposes of charity and community welfare. The contentious amendments to the central waqf law, which aims to make sweeping changes in the regulation and management of Islamic charitable endowments, was cleared by Parliament in April. The Supreme Court has reserved its judgment on a raft of petitions asking for a stay on some of the law's controversial provisions. Activists, opposition parties and bodies such as the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) challenged key provisions of the new law. The law accords more power to the government and allows for the appointment of non-Muslims and women to waqf boards, but the Opposition alleged it is unconstitutional. The rules mark a major landmark in operationalising the controversial law. But some experts raised concerns that the rules were silent on some of the more controversial provisions of the law – such as permitting women, Shia sects and government officials to be members of waqf bodies or allowing only a person 'showing or demonstrating that he is practising Islam for at least five years' to donate properties to waqf. They also said the conduct of the officials regulating or overseeing the registration process was undefined. Senior Advocate Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, who appeared before the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf, pointed out gaps. Ayyubi expressed disappointment that the rules failed to define the qualifications, jurisdiction, or operational procedures for the 'designated officer' envisaged under the rules: 'I was expecting that they would indicate the qualifications or jurisdiction or area of the designated officers... how he will operate or something on that aspect. So that's something which is not there.' He also underlined that the rules were silent on how someone can fulfil the 'practising Muslim' clause. 'If there is any problem, then they can approach the court, but then everyone will start approaching the court because nothing is clear.'
