Political, Religious Leaders Decry ‘Intrusive’ Police Survey of Mosques in Kashmir | Kashmir Life

SRINAGAR: Political and religious reactions intensified on Tuesday following reports that the Jammu and Kashmir Police have launched a large-scale exercise to collect extensive personal, financial and digital information about mosques and those associated with them across the Kashmir Valley, with leaders warning that the move violates constitutional rights and amounts to direct interference in religious affairs.

National Conference Member of Parliament from Srinagar, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, criticised the reported surveillance, alleging that the collection of details of mosque preachers and enhanced monitoring of religious spaces could not be viewed as a routine administrative exercise.

“This is not merely a law-and-order issue. It appears to be part of a larger ideological project driven by a particular right-wing worldview that seeks to control religions which do not conform to the ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh,” Ruhullah told reporters.

Aga said the Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to freely practise and propagate religion, and warned that surveillance and intimidation of religious institutions directly violated these guarantees. Questioning the need for what he described as additional scrutiny, Ruhullah said the state already possessed extensive personal data of citizens. “When people associated with a particular religion are singled out for extra monitoring, it creates an impression of intimidation,” he said.

Ruhullah cautioned that such measures could lead to direct interference in religious affairs. “A situation may arise where mosque preachers are told what to say and what not to say. That would amount to controlling the functioning of religion itself,” he said, adding that targeting religious institutions separately sent a dangerous signal.

“We have condemned it already. It is religious profiling,” PDP lawmaker Waheed Parra told reporters. “This exercise has not been carried out anywhere across the country. No profiling of institutions of any faith should take place because it is good for anybody; it adds to mistrust.” He said it will add to the alienation if Muslims are singled out and seen as suspects.

Insisting that a few instances cannot be used as an alibi to go for a mass profiling of the institution is not justified. He called for the withdrawal of the police circular. “This profiling is dangerous and will create a rift between different communities,” he said. “This process must end, and it should not be institutionalised by the police.”

The concerns come amid reports by The Indian Express that the Jammu and Kashmir Police have begun distributing a four-page form across several districts of the Valley, seeking granular information on mosques, their management committees, imams, muezzins, khateebs and charity wings.

According to the report, the form seeks details about a mosque’s sect, Barelvi, Hanafi, Deobandi or Ahle-Hadith, its physical structure, construction cost, sources of funding, monthly budget, bank account details and the nature of land on which it is built. It also demands extensive personal information about individuals associated with mosques, including Aadhaar, voter ID, PAN, passport details, travel history, bank accounts, ATM and credit card information, mobile phone IMEI numbers, social media handles, family details and financial standing.

“It is for the first time that police are seeking information at this scale on mosques and their members,” The Indian Express reported, noting that the exercise has triggered unease in the Valley, with many viewing it as a “direct interference in religious affairs”.

Moneycontrol News reported on January 13, 2026, that the exercise also seeks information on the apps installed on individuals’ mobile phones and any past involvement in militancy or criminal activity. While the police have not officially acknowledged the exercise, sources said it has been in the works for some time. “We have been asked to fill these details and submit the forms,” a police officer was quoted as saying.

Adding to the criticism, the Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU), the largest conglomerate of Islamic religious organisations in Jammu and Kashmir, expressed “deep concern” over what it termed an unprecedented and invasive data-collection exercise.

In a statement, the MMU said it had learnt that detailed multi-page forms were being distributed by the police seeking “highly personal and sensitive information”, including private identification details, family particulars, financial data, phone and digital information, social media profiles, passport details, travel history and IMEI numbers of those associated with mosques.

“Such an unprecedented and invasive exercise has caused widespread anxiety among religious institutions, imams, khateebs and the public in general,” the MMU said, asserting that the move was in complete violation of fundamental rights, including the right to privacy guaranteed under the Constitution.

The MMU said mosques are sacred institutions meant for worship, guidance and community service, and their internal religious affairs cannot be subjected to arbitrary surveillance. “The nature and depth of information being sought goes far beyond any routine administrative requirement, raising serious questions of intent and reflecting an attempt to control and regulate religious institutions through coercive means,” it said, adding that the fact that the exercise was specific to the Muslim community of Jammu and Kashmir made the motives “suspect”.

Calling for immediate intervention, the MMU urged the elected government and the Lieutenant Governor’s administration to stop the exercise forthwith. “Such measures undermine trust, create fear among religious functionaries and send a disturbing message to the Muslim community of the state. They are unjustified, counter-productive and harmful to social harmony,” the statement said.

The MMU also announced that it would convene a meeting of its constituent members and senior religious leadership shortly to deliberate on the issue and decide the future course of action if the exercise continued.

Former Srinagar mayor Junaid Azim Mattu also criticised the move, calling it an assault on constitutional values. Writing on X, Mattu said, “An absolutely condemnable and atrocious move that reeks of blatant misuse of authority at the cost of the fundamental rights of citizens. There should be no place for ethnic, religious, or racial profiling in India. It is an assault on the idea of India. We cannot suspend the Constitution to fight terror.”

An absolutely condemnable and atrocious move that reeks of blatant misuse of authority at the cost of the fundamental rights of citizens.

There should be no place for ethnic, religious or racial profiling in India. It is an assault on the idea of India.

We cannot suspend the… https://t.co/hQ1TQ85aFH

— Junaid Azim Mattu (@Junaid_Mattu) January 13, 2026

There was no immediate official response from the Jammu and Kashmir Police or the administration to the concerns raised by political leaders and religious bodies.