(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) -  Massive protest demonstrations were held in the area against burning of the revered Sufi shrine. Most places in Budgam district observed complete shutdown against the incident.

According to eyewitnesses, fire broke out in the 400-year-old shrine of Hazrat Baba Hanif-ud-Din Reshi Saturday night at around 11:30pm and engulfed the entire structure. People tried their best to douse the flames, but in vain. By the time fire tenders could reach the spot, the shrine had gutted completely.

The incident caused tension in the area with religious groups smelling rat.

District Magistrate Budgam, Khurshid Ahmad, said that administration is clueless about the cause of fire.

“Nothing can be said as yet. It will be too premature to say anything,” he said, “For now the police has registered the case for fire, and we will also start a magisterial inquiry into the incident as such incident have been happening in the area before also.”

Reports said that soon after the incident, a complete shutdown was observed in Beerwah town following. The shops and business establishments were closed while the traffic movement in the area also remained affected.

According to repots, when the word about the burning of shrine spread in the area, scores of people gathered near the shrine this morning, and hold massive protest demonstration.

A team of religious leaders and scholars, including Mufti Azam J&K, Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam, Mirwaiz central Kashmir, Moulvi Syed Abdul Lateef Bukhari, representative of World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought, Hajj Abdulhussain Moosavi, and chairman of the Mutteheda Ulema Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal-Jamaat (MUASWJ), Ghulam Rasool Hami, reached the spot and pacified the protestors.

Addressing media persons at Jamia Masjid Beerwa, Mirwaiz Syed Abdul Lateef, termed the incident, third in less than a month, as the handiwork of elements trying to create a sectarian divide in Kashmir.

He urged the people to maintain sectarian harmony, and cautioned them against playing into the hands of anti-Muslim elements.

Demanding an independent and time-bound probe into the incident, Mirwaiz Lateef asked the government to install fire protection systems at all the revered Sufi shrines in the state.

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