Current "Mirwaiz" Maulvi Umar Farooq

New Delhi, February 26 (IslamOnline.net) — The federal government has decided to clamp down on at least 40 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), most of them being run by Muslims in the Kashmir valley. The government also said these organizations may even be declared unlawful if demanded for the sake of national interest, daily Asian Age reported Wednesday, February 26.

The decision to blacklist and debar them from receiving foreign donation, has been vociferously criticized by Kashmiri religious leaders and organizations. Particularly, the federal government' s decision to blacklist Aujuman-e-Nusratul-Islam, Kashmir' s oldest religious, educational and cultural organization, has raised eyebrows across the Valley of Kashmir.

Anjuman-e-Nusratul-Islam came into being in 1899 and runs more than 15 schools, colleges, orphanages and vocational institutions in various parts of the valley. It is headed by Mirwaiz, the traditional religious head of Kashmiri Muslims.

The current Mirwaiz is Maulvi Omar Farooq, was the first chairman of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference, an amalgam of almost all separatist organizations in Kashmir which was formed in 1992.

Since its inception, Anjuman-e-Nusratul-Islam played an important role in the political affairs of the state of Jammu & Kashmir which is now divided between India and Pakistan since 1948.

In 1922, a list of all educated Muslims serving in government departments showing the number of those superseded by non-Muslims when Kashmir was a Muslim majority state, was prepared by the Anjuman. In 1923, a representation was made before the (Hindu) Dogra rulers of the state in which a number of demands on behalf of Kashmiri Muslims was made.

The organization took an active part in Srinagar silk factory agitation in 1924, and fought for the preservation of Muslim employees' rights. Later, in 1931 an agitation was staged in which the Anjuman vehemently protested against the Maharaja Hari Singh' s autocratic government in Kashmir.

With the help of its political arm "Muslim Conference", the Anjuman played an active part in the freedom struggle of Kashmir under the leadership of Mirwaiz Maulana Mohammad Yousuf Shah till his migration to Pakistan in 1947.

Kashmir' s revolutionary religious leader and scholar Mirwaiz Rasool Shah was the founder of the organization. The organization is currently headed by Umar Farooq who took as the 13th Mirwaiz at the age of 17 after the assassination of his father Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq in May 1990.

Another tragic incident followed immediately after Mohammad Farooq' s assassination. The Indian army fired indiscriminately upon the mourners carrying the body of the assassinated Mirwaiz in which 70 people were killed and hundreds of them injured. To give vent to their anger and in an outpouring of emotion, 400,000 people gathered in Srinagar and appointed Umar Farooq as the new Mirwaiz in spite of curfew and severe restrictions.

“Mirwaiz” literally means head preacher. The Mirwaiz is revered by the valley Muslims. His actions and sermons are also considered to be politically significant. The office of the Mirwaiz is hereditary and recognized by state government as well.

Sixty religious leaders and activists of various organizations met in Srinagar, following the latest developments, to protest the federal government' s action. They dubbed the government action a conspiracy to target the Islamic identity of the Muslim-dominated valley.

The Indian government has launched a campaign of vilification against the Kashmiri leadership and is also deliberately targeting our religious and educational institutions for political purposes. It all seems part of a conspiracy aimed at weakening our Islamic identity. Come what may we will fight it out tooth and nail," Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, said at the meeting.

A counter campaign would also be launched against the communal and narrow-minded elements who had of late been rearing their head, and constantly threatening Muslims to replicate Gujarat-like experiments across the country," Farooq said.

Kashmiri leaders widely view the federal government' s step as being conspiratorial. The move is being considered as yet another attempt to browbeat separatists leaders into submission.

The federal government claims that foreign donations meant for charitable causes are being utilized to fan militancy in the Kashmir Valley.