J&K Police Crack Down on Pro-Palestine, Pro-Hezbollah Support in Muharram Rallies

New Delhi: Earlier this week, a police team removed a poster of Hezbollah co-founder Hassan Nasrallah and former Iran supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini from a Muharram rally in Jammu and Kashmir's capital city of Srinagar, in a move that is still inviting outrage.

Prominent Shia leader and member of Lok Sabha from Srinagar, Aga Ruhullah, alleged that Shia mourners had been stopped from raising banners in favour of Palestine. Ruhullah urged the J&K police “not to follow the BJP and RSS policy”.

The RSS or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is the ideological fountainhead of the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) which has been facing accusations of turning India’s traditional foreign policy on the issue of Palestine on its head.

“Our police don't work for Israel and they should behave themselves,” Ruhullah said.

“Supporting Palestinian people and the establishment of a state of Palestine is embedded in our foreign policy. Police should stop acting like extended hands and agents of Zionist regime and instead serve our national policy?” he said.

'Increasingly intolerant' towards Palestine support

For the third year in a row, the Shia mourners in Kashmir were allowed to observe the traditional religious rituals during the first 10 days of Muharram to commemorate the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD in which Prophet Mohammad’s grandson Hussain Ibn Ali was killed along with his dozens of family members and followers.

Muharram processions had been banned in Srinagar and elsewhere in Kashmir in the aftermath of the eruption of armed insurgency in the early nineties but authorities lifted the ban in 2023.

Two major processions are carried out by the Shias on 8th and 10th day of Muharram in Srinagar.

Abid Hussain, a resident of Srinagar, told The Wire over phone that authorities have “turned increasingly intolerant” in recent years towards the show of support by people of Kashmir for the cause of the Palestinian people.

Shia mourners in Srinagar carrying a Palestinian flag with a poster of Iran’s founder Ali Khomeini and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in the background. Photo: By arrangement.

On June 24, the J&K Police removed graffiti resembling the flag of Israel on a road in Srinagar. It was allegedly done by three local minors, whose parents were summoned to the local police station. The suspects were “counselled” in their presence before being let off.

“It was a routine to extend solidarity with the besieged people of Palestine during the Muharram processions. But in recent years we are not even allowed to unfurl the Palestinian flags. This policy goes against the spirit of Muharram that commemorates the victory of the oppressor over the oppressed,” Hussain said.

Protests

Tension broke out on the sixth day of Muharram on Wednesday (June 2) when a J&K police team removed a poster of Khomeini and Nasrallah that was put up near a bridge over Nigeen Lake in Ashai Bagh locality of Srinagar.

A video of the incident shows three to four police officials in black uniforms atop a public, bus removing the poster of the duo from a banner stretched across the bridge bearing the words 'Death with dignity is better than a life of humiliation'.

The police action angered the local residents of Ashai Bagh, a predominantly Shia locality, who later staged a protest.

A day later on Thursday (June 3), police tried to remove more posters of Nasrallah from another Muharram rally in Magam area of central Kashmir’s Budgam district, leading to a massive protest during which the sub-divisional police officer Mohammad Ashrif Lissery and the station house officer (SHO) of Magam were allegedly roughed up.

After the police action, the Muharram procession, which was attended by several hundreds of Shia mourners, boiled down to a massive pro-Palestine and pro-Nasrallah demonstration.

Witnesses said that during the melee, the sub-divisional police officer and the SHO were manhandled and it was only after the intervention of some local elders that the two officials were able to make their way out of the mob.

A group of Shia mourners carrying a Palestinian flag in Srinagar. Photo: Special arrangement.

It was not immediately known whether a police case has been filed in connection with the incident. The Wire tried contacting senior superintendent of police (Budgam) Nikhil Borkar for more details but he did not respond to texts and phone calls. This story would be updated if and when a response is received.

To prevent a flareup of the situation amid the ongoing Muharram commemorations, the Srinagar police on Thursday warned netizens to “immediately delete … and refrain from sharing or uploading… malicious content related to the removal of a particular flag”, claiming that it has “potential to disturb public order and harmony”.

“All social media account holders are hereby strictly advised to immediately delete such content and refrain from sharing or uploading any similar material in the future. Failure to comply will attract strict legal action under applicable laws. We urge everyone to act responsibly and uphold peace in the community,” the advisory noted.

Muharram, also known as the ‘month of mourning’ among the Shias, is being observed in Kashmir against the backdrop of the recent military conflict between Iran and Israel, and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Meanwhile, a major Muharram procession was taken out today (July 4, the eighth day of Muharram) in Srinagar city in which thousands of mourners wearing black overalls were seen weeping and beating their chest to commemorate the martyrs of Karbala.

Special director general of police S.J.M. Gillani and divisional commissioner Kashmir Vijay Kumar Bidhuri among other senior officers were seen serving water and juice to the mourners.

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