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Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board to Set Sermon Topics

By Drooid · Oct 14, 2026, 4:04 AM UTC · How we work

Center

Farooq calls proposal ridiculous

On October 13, 2026, the Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board announced it will form a committee to develop sermon topics for mosques and shrines.
The Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema, headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, called the proposal ridiculous and urged board to restrict itself to managing waqf properties.
The board said proposal stemmed from a clerics’ meeting and no order has been issued.
BJP leader Darakhshan Andrabi chairs the board.

Right

BJP interference claim

On October 13, 2026, the Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board announced it will form a committee to set Friday-sermon topics for mosques and shrines.
Board officials said imams and scholars raised agenda to combat drug abuse, suicide and marriages, not leaders.
The meeting, chaired by Dr Darakhshan Andrabi, drew 1,500 imams and scholars.
Omar Abdullah called it BJP interference while Mehbooba Mufti urged moving the board to the elected government.

History

Historical Context

On 6 December 1992, a VHP-BJP-RSS rally of about 150,000 people demolished the 16th-century Babri Masjid, sparking riots that killed roughly 2,000 people and entrenched state-religion conflict. The episode prompted decades of legal battles and heightened scrutiny of religious sites. Today the Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board, led by BJP-aligned Darakhshan Andrabi, proposes to control Friday-sermon topics, echoing that earlier entanglement.

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Farooq calls proposal ridiculous

On October 13, 2026, the Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board announced it will form a committee to develop sermon topics for mosques and shrines.
The Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema, headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, called the proposal ridiculous and urged board to restrict itself to managing waqf properties.
The board said proposal stemmed from a clerics’ meeting and no order has been issued.
BJP leader Darakhshan Andrabi chairs the board.

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