On October 12, the Jammu and Kashmir police said that it had arrested three teachers from a school in South Kashmir’s Shopian district. “T...
On October 12, the Jammu and Kashmir police said that it had arrested three teachers from a school in South Kashmir’s Shopian district.
“The name of the school is Siraj-ul-Uloom – we have already booked three of its teachers under the PSA,” said Kashmir police chief Vijay Kumar at a press conference in Srinagar that day. “They are Abdul Ahad Bhat, Abdul Rouf Bhat and Mohammad Yousuf Wani.” The PSA, or the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, is a preventive detention law.
“Around five or six more teachers of the school are under surveillance,” Kumar continued. For now, the other teachers had been made to sign bonds under Section 107, pledging to keep the peace. But Jamia Siraj-ul-Uloom was under watch. “The school is basically affiliated with Jamaat-e-Islami,” Kumar said. “At this moment, we are taking action against the individuals. If there’s a need, we will act against the institution as well”
A socio-religious organisation that started life preaching “political Islam”, the Jamaat-e-Islami was banned for five years in February 2019. The Centre alleged it was in “close touch with militant outfits” and supported “extremism and militancy in Jammu and Kashmir”.
Before Kumar spoke to the press, news reports quoting anonymous police officials had claimed...
