Srinagar: Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday stated that he has once again been barred from offering congregational prayers at the Jamia Masjid.
“Just informed by the police that today, for the third consecutive Friday, I have been placed under house arrest and will not be allowed to go to Jama Masjid,” Mirwaiz wrote in a post on X.
As the chief cleric of Kashmir, who delivers the Friday sermon at the grand mosque, Mirwaiz described the repeated house arrest as a violation of fundamental rights.
“What law, if laws govern us, permits such an assault on basic freedoms and turns worship into a crime? Week after week—on Fridays or any other day chosen at will—the authorities confine me to my home, restrict my freedom, and prevent me from performing my religious duties, with no accountability for this authoritarian behavior,” he said.
He added that those responsible for holding authorities accountable “either dare not or choose not to question them.”
“I strongly condemn these repeated restrictions and the authorities’ disregard for human rights and the sentiments of the people,” he concluded.
