UP Shias irked over attempts to bulldoze Kashmir cemetery

Lucknow, Oct 4 Reports of damage to a Kashmiri cemetery and a dilapidated Imambara, allegedly by a local builder, has put the Shia community on the boil.

Shia clerics and a lawyer have vowed to rebuild the structures.

Pictures of an earthmover excavating the site went viral on social media on Sunday after which Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad reached the site near the King George's Medical University (KGMU) and got the work stopped.

Maulana Kalbe Jawad also held a majlis on the premises and assured rebuilding of the Imambara through crowdfunding.

"Work has been stopped but a few graves have been damaged. We will help in rebuilding the damaged graves along with the boundary wall and a proper gate. The land is registered as a waqf property and is in use by the Kashmiris in Lucknow," said Maulana Saif Abbas, another Shia cleric.

Maulana Kalbe Jawad said, "All efforts to free the land will be made. We will rebuild it through crowdfunding. I, along with another cleric will donate Rs 50,000 each for the Imambara and Rs 30,000 has been pledged by a few members of the community."

He demanded that an FIR should be lodged in this connection.

Mehmood Abidi, a Mumbai-based lawyer from Lucknow who is of Kashmiri descent and whose ancestors are buried at the cemetery, has also written to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath seeking his intervention on the issue.

He has written that his great grandfather was buried in the cemetery. "Graves of our community elders are maintained there. We visit this cemetery on Shab-e-Barat and other special occasions during Ramzan and Muharram to pay respect to our ancestors," he said.