Srinagar, July 2 (Reporter) Almost three months after he was ousted, the former Imam of Hazratbal shrine Kamal ud din Farooqi said on Tuesday that the Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board has no authority to sack him. The J&K Waqf Board, headed by BJP leader Darakshan Andrabi, had barred Farooqi from leading the prayers at Hazratbal shrine after an alleged forced conversion of a non-local. The Board also constituted an inquiry committee to probe Farooqi's role. Police had also registered an FIR under various sections alleging that a Srinagar resident forced the non-local, who was his domestic help, to convert to Islam. It was alleged that Farooqi presided over the forcible conversion. “My ancestor was appointed Imam at Hazratbal by Emperor Shah Jahan, and we have since been performing the duties without any break. The Waqf Board has no authority to sack me,” Farooqi said in a media interaction. “… I am not an appointee of Waqf. It has no role in my appointment. My family has been performing the duties uninterruptedly for 350 years.” Hazratbal is Kashmir’s holiest shrine, which houses the relics of Prophet Mohammad. Giving details about the conversion row, Farooqi, a former chief scientist at Kashmir’s Agriculture University, said on April 2, a congregation of two lakh devotees had assembled in the lawns of Hazratbal shrine for prayers in Jumat Ul Vida—the last Friday of Ramazan. “The conversion was not planned. Some men approached me shortly ahead of Juma Nimaz. I could not say no before a large crowd. As an Imam, I could not have said no to a man willing to recite Kailma.,” he said, adding, “In the capacity of Imam, I asked the non-local person as to whether he was converting to Islam under pressure, coercion, threat, or any kind of fear? In reply,, he announced that he does so out of his own free will and consent." He said police also summoned him for questioning, which lasted for nearly three and a half hours. “Three months have elapsed now. My restoration as Imam-u-Khateeb of Hazrtabal Shrine has not so far been ordered by the Waqf Board. The Waqf Board has no mandate to interfere with personal faith or religious practices. The Indian Constitution, according to Article 25, gives religious freedom to practice, profess, and propagate any religion,” Farooqi said. Farooqi said he was being debarred from leading the prayers at Hazratbal Shrine...////...