Kashmir Cleric Denied Prayer Access Amid New Kashmir Claims

Srinagar: As Kashmir’s chief Muslim cleric and chairman of his faction of separatist Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz was barred from praying and delivering customary sermon at Srinagar’s Jama Masjid on the fourth consecutive Friday, its management said it does not hold a candle to the Narendra Modi government’s ‘Naya (new) Kashmir’ claim.

“The Prime Minister and the Home Minister talk of their vision of a ‘Naya Kashmir.’ But it’s a strange new reality where the voice of peace, spiritual guidance, and dialogue is silenced. The unjust treatment of the Mirwaiz is far removed from their rhetoric,” Anjuman Auqaf Jama Masjid said in a statement here.

Deeply lamenting and strongly condemning the Mirwaiz’s continuous house detention, the Anjuman said, “This continued barring of the revered leader from performing his religious commitments is deeply disturbing and unacceptable”. It said that the Mirwaiz has already filed a rejoinder in the court hearing his detention petition.

It said that the Mirwaiz had also been invited to preside over a Seerat conference (an event that honours and shares the teachings of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad) at the Jama Masjid coinciding with his birth anniversary celebrations. “It is a matter of great sorrow that thousands of people from different parts of Valley who had come to participate in this Majlis, were denied the opportunity to hear the Mirwaiz on this spiritual occasion”.

The Anjuman further stated, “It is extremely sad that the government claims Mirwaiz is ‘free’ but prevents him from coming to Jama Masjid on Fridays and doesn’t feel disconcerted over being proved lying. It shows how unaccountable the government is to the people and their religious sentiments.”

It demanded immediate release of the Mirwaiz from house detention and the restoration of his rights and the “rights of Kashmiri people in practising their religious traditions freely without interference”. The statement added, “We call on all conscientious citizens and human rights organizations to raise their voices against this injustice”.

The official sources here said that “certain restriction” have been imposed on the Mirwaiz’s movement in the interest of peace during the J&K Assembly elections.