Kashmir’s latest expression of sectarian unity has come under a strain after some young men performed a Muharram mourning ritual inside the famed Khanqah-e-Moula shrine in Srinagar, prompting leaders from both sides to call for calm.

The controversy started after a group of Shia youths recited the Nouha (mourning) for Imam Hussain inside the shrine this week.

Kashmir had witnessed big Muharram gatherings this year during which Sunnis offered soft drinks to Shia mourners at many places.

The Khanqah is a premier Sufi shrine in Kashmir, attributed to Mir Syed Ali Hamdani, the founder of Islam in Kashmir. The shrine is widely revered by Sunnis and Shias, although it is seen as a Sunni place of worship.

Former Srinagar mayor Junaid Azim Mattu flagged the Nouha incident on X, seeking action from the Jammu and Kashmir Wakf Board, responsible for the management of the shrine.

“I’m the most vociferous supporter of Shia-Sunni unity and we are all proud Muhibaan-e-Ahle-Bayat (lovers of the Prophet’s family) but Azadaari inside Khanqah-e-Moula is unprecedented and could potentially disturb sectarian harmony,” he wrote.

Matters took an ugly turn after the Mutahida Majlis Amal, Kashmir’s top body of Islamic scholars headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, was alleged to have said the shrine needed a Ghusl (a washing ritual) to purify it.

Several Shia scholars were offended and asked how an act of mourning for Imam Hussain could have polluted the shrine.

“Tourists can enter the shrine, Hindus can click pictures there, but a mourner of Imam Hussain cannot do it? Now you have to purify the Khanqah?” Agha Syed Hadi, a Shia scholar, said.

Mirwaiz Manzil, a handle run by the Mirwaiz’s Awami Action Committee, on Sunday denied that the Mutahida Majlis Amal had made any remarks about performing the washing ritual.

“Kindly refrain from posting/ attributing unfound(ed) information. We unequivocally condemn any of such statements (Ghusul & Anti Shia Slogans) which aim to stoke sectarian tensions here. We are united & will continue to remain so!” it said in a post on X.

Srinagar’s newly elected MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, a Shia voted to Parliament with massive support from Sunnis, hit out at offenders from both sides.

Ruhullah said the controversy had been “manipulated and exploited by certain hypocrites for their political purposes — the way they would post videos and photos of themselves being part of these mourning ceremonies only till last year when they thought it would benefit them politically”.

This seemed an allusion to Mattu, a Sunni who participated in Muharram processions in a big way to pander to Shia voters.

His opponents claim he has been nursing a grudge after Shias rejected his party (the Apni Party, dubbed the BJP’s B-team) in this summer’s general election and voted for Ruhullah.

Following the defeat, Mattu had recently announced an “interim cessation” from politics.

“The general reaction to this video (of mourning in the Khanqah) was unfortunate and (was) pushed beyond limits,” Ruhullah said.

“From the calls (for the) washing of the Khanqah (giving Ghusl) to what not. Why these calls? Why this hate and othering? What sin did they commit there that calls for such extreme reactions?”

Ruhullah also questioned the mourners for conducting the ceremony inside the Khanqah.

“What was the need? What urged you to do that? Was it for your own satisfaction or was it for Imam Hussain?” he said.