Overview

• Jammu and Kashmir Police registered a case and tightened security at Hazratbal after a viral video showed men breaking the Ashoka emblem on a newly installed renovation plaque.
• Waqf Board chair Darakshan Andrabi condemned the defacement as an attack on the Constitution, urged Public Safety Act action against those involved, named NC’s Tanvir Sadiq for an FIR, and threatened a hunger strike if arrests are not made.
• Chief minister Omar Abdullah said government emblems should not appear in religious institutions, called the plaque a mistake, and urged the Waqf Board to apologise instead of issuing threats.
• Mehbooba Mufti termed the installation blasphemous, sought action under Section 295-A against those who authorised the plaque, and the MMU clerical body urged removal of the stone and dialogue rather than punitive measures on worshippers.
• BJP leaders denounced the defacement as an assault on a national symbol and alleged opposition provocation, as parties also trade charges over possible misuse of the State Emblem of India Act.