The Jammu and Kashmir police have introduced a large-scale exercise to gather the information on mosques in the area. The exercise includes collecting information on the mosque, the imams, the muezzins, and members of the management committees. The information is gathered through a four-page-long form including the section for the information including the personal details like social media profile, village, address, ideological sects. The form has been verified by the FoEJ Media.
Police also seek information on the mosques’ monthly budgets, bank account details, and management structures, as well as the legal status of the land on which they are built—whether state-owned, privately held, or classified as shamilaat.
A local journalist, on the condition of anonymity, told FoEJ Media that “the policemen have been tasked to profile every mosque and the people associated with it.”
“They first ask the details of the mosque, the sect it belongs to, how much its construction cost, and how you sourced its funds,” he added.
The form has raised questions about the format. The local journalist who conducted the ground survey told FoEJ Media that the people are visibly annoyed by the exercise.
“It is not just profiling but seems to have a different intent to control the mosques in the valley,” people said.
Several people contacted for this report also agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity. One of them said “police personnel approached seeking detailed information about a local mosque, including its sect affiliation, construction cost, and sources of funding.” They said the officials also asked about the mosque’s monthly expenses and how these were met.
The form also seeks to gather information on the total cost of construction, number of stories, type of civil structure, established year of the mosque, and a picture of the place.
Authorities Seek Family Details of Mosque Management Committee Members
The other section of the form includes the family details of the members of the mosque management committee alongside the information of the imam, muezzin, and the mosque’s charity wing.
The information, such as IMEI numbers of the phones, ATM, credit cards, and PAN card details, is also asked. They have also been asked to provide information such as voter ID numbers, Aadhaar details, driving licence numbers, ration card information, mobile phone numbers, and bank account details.
However, the Jammu and Kashmir Police have so far not issued any official statement on the reported exercise.
“This latest order poses a serious threat to our mosques. It amounts to interference in our religion, repeated and direct interference… If they really want to act, then they should begin with other religions as well,” PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said while talking to PTI.
“Let them find out which temples allow which priests, where Dalits are allowed to go, where Brahmins are allowed, and how much money is paid for entry into different temples, because nothing like this exists in our mosques. Already in Jammu and Kashmir, there are mosque committees. How many mosques are there, and on what land do they stand? Everything is already recorded in revenue and police records,” she added, and the PTI quoted.
“You are asking maulvis and imams to give their details—bank accounts and everything else. Are you doing the same with temples? Will you do this with gurdwaras? Will you do this with churches? This is not happening anywhere else in the country, except here. And I fear that what they have started with mosques in Jammu and Kashmir will eventually be implemented across the entire country,” she said to PTI.
Conference leader and Member Parliament from Srinagar, Aga Ruhullah Mehdi calling it an “infringement of the religious freedom” guaranteed under the Constitution.
“The Constitution of the country gives a guarantee to a person of every religion to profess his faith without fear. This type of surveillance and intimidation and control is an infringement on that freedom of practice which is an affront to the Constitution,” he said.
Former Srinagar mayor Junaid Mattu urged the authorities to withdraw the move with immediate effect.
“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,” he posted on X.
Following this exercise, the Mutahida Majlis e Ulema (MMU), Jammu and Kashmir’s largest Islamic religious organization, has also expressed deep concern over the practice.
The MMU said the exercise is a clear violation of fundamental rights, including the constitutional right to privacy and protection of personal information. It stressed that mosques are sacred institutions meant for worship, guidance, and community service, and that their internal religious affairs cannot be subjected to arbitrary surveillance or intrusive scrutiny. The scope and depth of the information being sought, the MMU noted, go far beyond any routine administrative requirement, raising serious questions about intent and pointing to an attempt to control and regulate religious institutions through coercive measures and excessive oversight.
“MMU has learnt that detailed multi-page forms are being distributed by the police seeking highly personal and sensitive information of all those connected with running and management of mosques… Such an unprecedented and invasive data-collection exercise has caused widespread anxiety among religious institutions, imams, khateebs and the public in general,” a statement by MMU said.
