Under house arrest, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to move high court for release

Hurriyat Conference chairman and Jamia Masjid chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday claimed that he was put under house arrest for the third consecutive Friday, preventing him from discharging his religious duties. He said he would file a rejoinder before the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh concerning his ongoing lawsuit seeking permanent release from house arrest.

No one can meet me

No reason is given for this infringement of my fundamental right to freedom and liberty. It is enforced in private and denied in public. No visitors, especially the media, are allowed to meet me. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Hurriyat chairman

He also described as “strange” Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha’s claim to a private TV news channel that the Hurriyat Conference leader was a free man and could go wherever he wanted.

“No reason is given for this infringement of my fundamental right to freedom and liberty. It is enforced in private and denied in public. No visitors, especially the media, are allowed to meet me,” the Mirwaiz said.

He alleged that “repeated detention” was affecting his obligations as the Mirwaiz and his socio-educational initiatives. “Being a public person, it also prevents me from engaging with people socially and participating in their lives in grief and happiness,” he said.

The Mirwaiz also condoled the passing of Jammu and Kashmir’s first Muslim IAS officer Mohammad Shafi Pandit, who died on Thursday.

Pandit, who retired as chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission in 2009, died at a Delhi hospital while undergoing treatment for cancer.

“Shafi sahab was a dynamic bureaucrat, for whom the welfare of the people of Jammu and Kashmir was the motivating force throughout his career. Even after his retirement, he continued to serve the society through philanthropic and social initiatives. Such people are an asset to society and he will always be remembered for that,” said Mirwaiz.