CM defends Kishtwar ‘Zakat’ order

Jammu, Feb 20: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah called for political maturity on Friday, urging lawmakers to “desist from doing politics on everything”, after a government order regarding “Zakat” (alms) collection was painted as interference in religious matters.

Immediately after the Question Hour ended in the Assembly, CM Omar raised a point of order as he wanted to respond to concerns voiced by Congress MLAs Nizamuddin Bhat and Ghulam Ahmed Mir on Thursday.

The two Congress legislators, along with other MLAs, had criticised a recent administrative order in Kishtwar, regulating donations.

Addressing the floor, the CM said he personally investigated the matter to determine if the State was overstepping and clarified that the deputy commissioner (DC) of Kishtwar did not act on a whim or a political order, but on a direct plea of Muslim community leaders in the district.

During pre-Ramadhan preparatory meetings, local Muslim religious leaders had expressed deep concern over the rise of “fake NGOs” that exploit the holy month to defraud donors.

“Money is collected in the name of patients who may not even exist,” CM Omar said,. “The religious leaders requested the DC to issue this order because legitimate NGOs were being harmed by these fraudulent actors.”

Far from being seen as “interference”, he noted that the order has received a formal backing from the imam of Kishtwar’s Jama Masjid, local maulvis and prominent religious organisations in the region.

The CM took aim at the knee-jerk political reactions, saying not every administrative decision should be viewed through a political lens and that such decisions are often taken in consultation with people.

“I would like to request the members and others that we should not do politics on everything,” he said. “We should go into details. Sometimes these decisions are not taken on a political basis, they are taken after consulting people. We should not put these things in politics.”

CM Omar’s remarks were acknowledged by the members of the treasury as well as opposition benches.

Kishtwar district authorities issued an order on Wednesday, regulating the collection of donations during the holy month, citing concerns over unauthorised fundraising.

In the order, Kishtwar DC Pankaj Kumar Sharma said it is the administration’s statutory obligation to ensure that public contributions intended for relief, welfare or religious purposes are not misappropriated, laundered or diverted for extraneous or subversive activities.

“There has been a tendency of unauthorised collection of donations by certain individuals and organisations during Ramadhan, necessitating immediate regulatory intervention,” Sharma said.

Criticising the DC’s order, Mir and Bhat demanded on Thursday that it should immediately be revoked.

People’s Democratic Party (PDP) MLA Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi had termed the order an “overreach by the administration”.

However, Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma had welcomed the order, saying “it was a big deal that even the head of the Muslim community there welcomed it. Unfortunately, some local leaders were questioning it”.

“The Muslim community also believes that law and order should be maintained properly where these things are happening,” the BJP MLA had said.

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