Mirwaiz Denied Access to Jama Masjid for Second Consecutive Friday
Calls Out Authorities for Curtailing Religious Rights and Preventing Participation in Prof. Bhat’s Janazah
Mirwaiz Kashmir, Dr. Moulvi Muhammad Umar Farooq, expressed strong anguish that for the second consecutive Friday he has been denied permission to offer prayers at the historic Jama Masjid Srinagar.
Mirwaiz said that 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 remarked.
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.
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 Mirwaiz Sahib and the restriction on his performance of religious duties, strongly condemning this action.
