Outcry in Kashmir after Islamic school blacklisted under anti-terror law

A major educational seminary for Muslims in Indian-administered Kashmir has been declared unlawful under anti-terror legislation, triggering strong criticism from religious and political figures in the region, Indian media reported.

Kashmir divisional commissioner, Anshul Garg, issued the order, citing a police dossier that allegedly found “sustained and covert links” between the seminary and the banned group Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), according to local media.

The institution, Jamia Siraj-ul-Uloom, is among the largest seminaries in southern India-administered Kashmir and is affiliated with the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education.

The action was taken under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), a controversial law that allows authorities to label individuals or organisations as “terrorist” without evidence.

Authorities claimed that members of the seminary’s management and teaching staff had connections to JeI. 

Mohammad Shafi Lone, the seminary’s chairman, denied the allegations.

Leaders in Muslim-majority India-administered Kashmir condemned the decision, describing it as part of a broader pattern of overreach by New Delhi.

“Declaring Jamia Siraj-ul-Uloom ‘unlawful’ under UAPA is the latest act in a calculated dismantling of Kashmir’s civic life,” wrote Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, a member of the Jammu and Kashmir parliament, on X. 

“The pattern is unmistakable. Trusts, mosques, libraries and now seminaries serving underprivileged children, every social and nongovernmental institution that holds Kashmiri society together is being strangled.”

He added that the school has more than 800 students and has “produced doctors, scholars and professionals from homes that could never afford private education.”

Mehbooba Mufti, a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, described the move as a “flagrant injustice to the poor underprivileged sections of society.”

TRTGlobal