J&K Police Launch Wide‑Ranging Data Drive on Mosques, Madrasas and Religious Administrators

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Police have launched a wide‑ranging data‑collection exercise covering mosques, other Muslim places of worship, and madrasas (seminaries), along with the individuals who administer or serve in these institutions. The drive, underway across the Kashmir Valley, seeks detailed information on mosques and those associated with them, including imams, muezzins, khateebs- who deliver sermons on Fridays and other special occasions-, members of mosque management committees, and representatives of the Bait‑ul‑Maal, the charitable wing attached to many mosques.

Several mosque management bodies have confirmed receiving a comprehensive four‑page form. One page is devoted to institutional details of each mosque or madrasa, including its sectarian or ideological affiliation—Barelvi, Hanafi, Deobandi, or Ahle Hadith—along with seating capacity, number of floors, estimated construction cost, sources of funding, monthly budget, bank account information, management structure, and the legal status of the land on which the institution stands.

The remaining three pages focus on individuals connected to these religious spaces. For each imam, muezzin, khateeb, teacher, committee member, or Bait‑ul‑Maal representative, the form seeks an extensive set of personal, financial, and digital identifiers. These include date of birth, educational qualifications, contact numbers, email addresses, Aadhaar and voter ID details, passport information and travel history, bank accounts, ATM and credit card particulars, PAN numbers, mobile handset and IMEI details, social media accounts, monthly income and expenditure, property ownership, and full family details. Respondents are also asked to disclose any past involvement in militancy, criminal cases, or subversive activity.

Officials, speaking privately, have linked the exercise to the investigation of a “white‑collar” terror module uncovered in November last year. That probe—conducted jointly by police forces from J&K, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana—resulted in the arrest of nine individuals, including three doctors, and the seizure of nearly 2,900 kilograms of explosive material. Investigators claim that some suspects had been radicalised through madrassas or online platforms, and that the role of certain imams, including one identified as Molvi Irfan Ahmed Wagay, had come under scrutiny.

According to these officials, mapping religious institutions and their personnel is necessary to understand financial flows, identify potential vulnerabilities, and prevent the misuse of mosques or madrassas for radicalisation or logistical support to militant networks. The emphasis on financial transparency—sources of construction funds, monthly budgets, bank accounts, and management structures—is described as a preventive measure aimed at detecting irregularities or foreign‑linked funding channels. Some officials have also cited what they view as the rise of puritanical, non‑Sufi interpretations of Islam in parts of the Valley, which they believe may contribute to youth radicalisation. In this context, documenting sectarian affiliation is presented as a way to track ideological trends and their possible security implications. The demand for personal identifiers—such as passport details, social media accounts, and IMEI numbers—is justified by officials as necessary for background verification and for identifying individuals who may be in contact with foreign handlers or extremist networks.

Village numberdars (village headmen) have reportedly been tasked with collecting the completed forms from mosques and madrassas within their jurisdictions. Authorities are said to be particularly focused on tracing the origins of funds used for construction and daily operations. The stated objective, according to officials involved, is to build a comprehensive database of religious institutions and the people associated with them.

Despite the scale of the initiative, the J&K Police have not issued any official public statement explaining the purpose, legal basis, or intended use of the collected data. This lack of clarity has fuelled unease among some mosque committees and community members, who view the exercise as intrusive and argue that routine verification—if required—could be conducted without demanding such sensitive personal, financial, and digital information. While earlier instances of police seeking mosque‑related details were documented in 2019 and again between 2024 and 2025, those efforts were narrower and tied to specific security operations. The current drive appears far more expansive and granular, prompting renewed debate about its implications for privacy, religious autonomy, and the broader relationship between the state and the community in the Valley.