Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz Umar placed under house arrest

Hurriyat Conference chairman and Jamia Masjid chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday said he was placed under house arrest and barred from delivering the Friday sermon at Jamia Masjid, Srinagar.

“As I was about to leave for Jama Masjid for the Friday sermon and prayers, I was verbally informed that I am under house arrest today and won’t be allowed to go,” Farooq wrote on X. He said it was “anyone’s guess” as to why he was prevented from going to the grand mosque in the Nowhatta locality.

“Is it related to the 32nd anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition today, and the wave of Masjid and shrine surveys that we raised our voice against? Anyone’s guess,” the Hurriyat chairman said. The Anjuman Auqaf, the management committee of Jamia Masjid, condemned the action, calling it an “unjustified house arrest” that prevented Mirwaiz from performing his religious and official duties.

“When the Mirwaiz was preparing to proceed to Jama Masjid as per his routine, he was informed by the authorities that he would not be allowed to visit the mosque,” the committee said in a statement. Terming the move as “an infringement on the Mirwaiz’s religious freedom”, the committee described it as interference in religious matters. “This unjustifiable action by the state administration caused disappointment among the devotees and worshippers who had come from across the valley to offer Friday prayers and listen to the Mirwaiz’s sermon,” the statement added.