J038;K cleric who criticised stone-pelters assassinated

Sources said an intercept of a message from PoK indicated that there was an attempt to blame the killing on the Bajrang Dal and the Shiv Sena.

Witnesses said Shah fell near the mosque entrance and died on the way to hospital. No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. Two persons sustained splinter injuries.

Shahs younger son and two security guards escaped because they were trying to park the car. Shopkeepers downed shutters and angry people took to the streets,some Shah supporters calling for revenge.

Jamp;K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah,in a tweet,said: Maulana Showket,head of the Jamiat Ahle-Hadees,has been killed in a blast in Srinagar. Will cool heads prevail? I pray they do.

Hours later,a large crowd turned up for Shahs funeral prayers at Lal Chowk. Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF chief Yasin Malik were also present.

The 55-year-old cleric is survived by his wife and three children. In the last two years,he survived two bids on his life a grenade was hurled at his house in Lal Bazar and he was later shot at near his office in Barbar Shah.

The Mirwaiz called the killing of Shah a conspiracy. Those elements who killed Shah have to answer. He said Shah always strove for unity. This is a conspiracy to weaken our struggle but our struggle will never get weak, he said.

Yasin Malik said: The killers of Shah are cowards8230; Can one who kills a scholar,that too at the gates of a mosque,claim to be a Muslim? Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Geelani said he was shocked: This is a barbaric act of terrorism. The killers of Shah cannot be human.

Shah was elected president of the Jamiat Ahle-Hadees for the third time recently. The religious organisation propagates Salafism or the puritanical interpretation of Islam. With more than 15 lakh registered members,it runs some 1200 mosques across Jamp;K.

Shah was an ardent believer in the radical middle way. Though the leadership and cadres of the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa share the Salafi school of thought,Shah was never close to them. He played a major role in preventing the extreme Salafi ideology take centrestage in Jamiat Ahle-Hadees.

Shah is not the first leader of the organisation to be assassinated. Prof Mohammad Ramzan,its former chief,was killed in 1998. Maulvi Ghulam Nabi Dagga,another top leader,was also killed.

Shah was very closely associated with Yasin Malik. He helped expand Maliks influence and political message across the state. This put him in direct confrontation with a section of the separatist leadership.