Srinagar:Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday alleged that Indian Army personnel stormed inside a mosque in south Kashmir's Pulwama district and forced Muslims to chant 'Jai Shri Ram'.
Mehbooba, in a tweet, said she was shocked to learn that personnel of 50 Rashtriya Rifles of the Indian Army stormed inside a mosque in the district and forced people inside to raise the slogan. The PDP chief added that the attack coming ahead of Amarnath Yatra terming it an "act of provocation".
"Shocked to hear about army troops from 50 RR storming into a mosque at Pulwama & forcing Muslims inside to chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’. Such a move when @AmitShah is here & that too ahead of yatra is simply an act of provocation. Request @RgGhai to immediately set up a probe," Mehbooba tweeted while requesting the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 15 Corps Rajiv Ghai to set up a probe immediately. The Army is yet to issue any statement on the matter.
According to the inputs received by ETV Bharat, the incident took place at Zadoora village in the district early Saturday when a few persons who had gone to the local mosque to offer dawn (Fajr) prayers were allegedly forced to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans by the RR troops led by one Army officer. Following it, the locals sought action against the army personnel and reported the same to the police, the sources said. No official statement by J&K police or Army has been released yet. The story will be updated if they do.
The incident happened on the day when Union Home Minister Amit Shah was in Srinagar where he laid the foundation stone of a "martyr's memorial" and distributed appointment letters to the next of kin of eight Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel killed in the line of duty. "The 'Balidaan Stambh' memorial, a project under the Srinagar Smart City initiative, is a tribute to martyrs who have sacrificed their lives for the nation," an official said.
Shah, who was on a two-day visit to the Union territory, and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha laid its foundation stone at Prapat Park near the Lal Chowk city centre. "Jammu and Kashmir is the land of indomitable courage and bravery of the nation's bravehearts. To immortalise the valour of such heroes, the foundation stone of the 'Balidaan Stambh' was laid at Pratap Park in Srinagar, today. It will inspire patriotism among the youth by immortalising the memory of the martyrs," the Union home minister later said in a tweet in Hindi.
Also read: UP: Muslim man assaulted, forced to chant religious slogans on Padmawat Express
