A district court in south Kashmir’s Shopian has ordered the reopening of Darul Uloom Jamia Siraj-ul-Uloom nearly five months after authorities sealed it under the UAPA. District Judge Shopian Mehmood Ahmad Chowdhary passed an interim order on a petition filed by the seminary, directing that the institution resume its educational activities and have its assets restored pending a final decision in the case.
The court also ordered the formation of an oversight committee to manage the institution’s functioning. The panel will include a representative of the district administration, an official from the education department, and a reputable person from the district.
Advocate SM Iqbal, who represented Siraj-ul-Uloom in court, said the bench’s primary concern was to protect the students’ education. “It was an interim direction. The court said that the education of the students shouldn’t suffer,” Iqbal said. The order also covered the restoration of the institution’s assets, including its hostel and orchard.
Siraj-ul-Uloom was the first seminary in Jammu and Kashmir to be declared an unlawful entity under the UAPA. The government action against the institution was part of a broader crackdown linked to the Falah-e-Aam Trust. Authorities took over 58 schools described as affiliated with the Trust. Political leaders in the Valley criticised the move as an attack on the region’s identity and dignity.