Lockdown at Srinagar Jamia Masjid on Final Friday of Ramadan; Mirwaiz Detained at Home, Reports
Kashmir’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has said that authorities locked the gates to the Grand Mosque in Srinagar on the last Friday of Ramzan and that he was not allowed leave his residence to lead prayers.
“Today, on the occasion of Jumat-ul-vida, state authorities have not allowed prayers at the Jamia Masjid for the fifth consecutive year. I have also been detained at home,” the Mirwaiz said in a video statement issued after the media were not allowed to meet him.
He said it is “sad and unfortunate” that authorities “snatched this opportunity from us and forcibly locked the gates of Jamia Masjid, not allowing this great religious congregation to take place, causing great distress, anguish and pain to you and me”.
“We, the people of Jammu Kashmir, protest this authoritarianism and direct violation of our religious rights,” he said.
The last Friday of Ramzan is an important date in the Islamic calendar. It draws people from different districts of the Valley for prayers at the Grand Mosque and to listen to the Mirwaiz’s sermon.
“Repeatedly, this centre of Islam in Kashmir is subject to enforced lockdowns by the authorities. And repeatedly, I am put under house arrest on Fridays to prevent me from going to Jamia Masjid,” the Mirwaiz said in the video.
