J&K Waqf Board takes U-turn on uniform Friday sermons

In the face of opposition by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Kashmir chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti to the J&K Waqf Board’s move to introduce uniform Friday sermons in mosques, senior BJP leader and Board chairperson Darakshan Andrabi on Tuesday (October 13, 2026) took a U-turn and said “such decisions will be taken by preachers and not politicians”.

“There is no order to have uniform sermons. In a meeting on Sunday, religious scholars and preachers suggested to fight social evils collectively. Ulemas (scholars) and khateebs (preachers) will decide the topics for Friday sermons through a board. It’s them (preachers) and not politicians who get to decide on such matters,” Ms. Andrabi said.

She said the idea was to “forcefully and unitedly raise voice over social issues like drugs, late marriages, waywardness and the recent cases of damaging of orchards.”

The U-turn came two days after Ms. Andrabi proposed to have a core committee of preachers to pre-decide on the topics for the sermons in J&K mosques. Ishtiyaq Mohi-ud-Din, an Executive Magistrate at the Board, had informed the preachers about the Board directive that “only one topic will be highlighted [in the sermons]”.

The Board’s move, however, evoked public outcry and drew criticism from the regional parties, including National Conference, PDP, J&K Peoples Conference (JKPC), Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) etc.

“This is an unacceptable attempt by the BJP to interfere in the religious affairs of Muslims and will not be accepted under any circumstances. The BJP-appointed Chairperson must immediately halt this misplaced attempt to please her masters,” Mr. Abdullah said.