Mufti Mohd Sayeed’s mausoleum locked ahead of Azad’s visit

Srinagar, November 11

Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) leader Ghulam Nabi Azad faced an unexpected hindrance during his visit to the mausoleum of former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and PDP founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in Anantnag on Saturday.

The entrance to Sayeed’s final resting place was found locked, preventing Azad and other leaders of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party from entering.

Consequently, Azad and his delegation had to offer their condolences, symbolised by the fateha (special prayer for the deceased), from outside the fenced perimeter of Sayeed’s mausoleum at Bijbehara in Anantnag.

Expressing dismay over the situation, DPAP leader and former minister Mohammad Amin Bhat stated, “We had come to offer fateha for Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. He was a tall leader. The door is locked, we don’t know who did it, but we condemn it.”

Bhat went on to highlight the apparent disparity in access, noting that while the mausoleum’s doors were open for BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir president Ravinder Raina, they were locked for Azad. “The door was open for (BJP leader) Ravinder Raina but not for our popular leader (Azad) who spent 50 years with Mufti sahib like brothers,” he added.

The circumstances surrounding the locked entrance remained unclear, leaving Azad and his party members puzzled. Azad, who was in Bijbehara for a workers’ meeting of his party, encountered this unexpected situation, raising questions about the disparity in access to the mausoleum.