Srinagar August 20 (KNS): YNC Provincial President Salman Ali Sagar on Saturday led a peaceful protest march against the government's decision to ban public donations at Muslim shrines, saying the move reeks of bias and selective targetting. 

The protest march took off from party headquarters Nawa e Subah and was intercepted by police when the protestors started moving towards Lal Chowk. The protestors, including YNC's district, Zone and provincial functionaries, were holding placards asking the government to refrain from policing people's religious and spiritual beliefs. 

Denouncing the measure Salman Sagar said that undue meddling into our centres of faith and spirituality is unacceptable. "We can’t tolerate it. These shrines are confined to propagating religion and providing guidance to devotees. They did not exist for making money. The government’s interference in religious matters is akin to putting one’s hand in a fire. People will oppose it tooth and nail,” he said.

 
He said that the move is prejudiced towards the spiritual and religious practices of people. "It tars every caretaker at our revered shrines with the same brush and shows our sufi syncretic traditions in bad light. The government should apologise to people for denigrating their spiritual beliefs," he said. 

He said the decision should be left with people to decide where they want to donate.(KNS)