Srinagar, Sep 19 (KNO): Mirwaiz Kashmir, Dr. Moulvi Muhammad Umar Farooq, has expressed deep anguish over being barred from attending congregation prayers for the second consecutive Friday at the historic Jama Masjid in Srinagar.
The Mirwaiz in a statement issued to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) said, “It is deeply regrettable that at will, the authorities continue to curb the basic religious rights of people. Heavens would not have fallen if we had been allowed to participate in the janazah of Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat Sahib, my friend and colleague, and offer duas for the departed soul. Are the authorities so afraid of the dead!”
He said that to be locked up in his own home week after week, barred from entering Jama Masjid, is “nothing short of proof that we are living under an authoritarian setup.” “Denying people the right to honour their leaders, to pay them last respects, to collectively share grief at their passing, and forcibly preventing them from praying in mosques is highly condemnable,” the Mirwaiz said.
The Mirwaiz said, “Brute power cannot silence faith, nor can it extinguish the people’s yearning for dignity and justice.”
Meanwhile, according to reports, in various central mosques, Imambaras, Khanqahs, and shrines, scholars, imams, and preachers raised their voices in protest against the continuous house detention of the Mirwaiz and the restriction on his performance of religious duties, strongly condemning this action—(KNO)