Reconstruction of gutted Sufi shrine begins

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 14

The administration of the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir has initiated the reconstruction of the recently gutted Kounsarbal shrine in the restive town of Tral in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

Officials said the government had approved Rs 22 lakh for the reconstruction of the ladies’ compound of the Kounsarbal shrine to be completed within three months.

“The reconstruction work of the ladies’ compound in the Kounsarbal Tral shrine shall be done in three months positively on the similar pattern as of the gutted structure in consultation with local Auqaf Committee,” reads an official communication from the office of Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Baseer Khan.

Khan has directed Additional Deputy Commissioner Tral to submit weekly reports on the progress of the work done in this regard.

A mysterious fire had damaged the Sufi shrine on the night of November 25 and triggered protests from locals.

Locals said the revered shrine was named after Sufi preacher Hazrat Mir Mohammad Hamdani and housed relics of Hazrat Abu Baker, one of the close companions of Prophet Muhammad.

Ten days before the shrine was set ablaze, incidents of desecration of copies of the Quran, damage to mosques and shrines were reported from several parts of Tral.