Srinagar, Oct. 13 -- Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board chairperson Darakhshan Andrabi on Tuesday, October 13, denied that the board had ordered uniform Friday sermons in its mosques, a proposal had drawn sharp opposition from Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti and the Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU).

"There is no order. There is no order anywhere," Andrabi, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, told reporters in Srinagar.

She said religious scholars and preachers were free to choose the issues they wished to address. She added that neither she nor any board official could decide the subjects of the sermons.

Her denial is at odds with what a board official told ...