The caretakers of the historic Jamia Masjid in Srinagar have accused the Lieutenant Governor’s administration of closing the mosque, preventing Friday prayers, and placing the Kashmir Valley’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq — also chairman of the Hurriyat — under house arrest again. The move comes amid fears that protests against Palestinian deaths in the ongoing conflict would erupt after the prayers.
A spokesman of the Anjuman Auqaf Jamia Masjid, the caretaker body for the mosque, said that police officials had closed the gates of the mosque and conveyed that, “Friday prayers will not be allowed today”.
“The Mirwaiz, who was finally allowed to offer Friday prayers and deliver Friday sermon, has yet again been put under house arrest early this morning today,” the spokesman said. Mirwaiz Farooq, 50, was set free to lead prayers and deliver sermons at the mosque on September 22 this year for the first time since Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional position was ended in 2019.
