Kashmir: Authorities bar Friday Prayers for Second Time at Historic Jamia Masjid

Srinagar: Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir barred the Friday congregational prayers in the historic Jamia Masjid in Srinagar for the second consecutive week amidst fears of protest against Israel’s ongoing war on Palestinians.

In a statement, the central mosque’s management body, Anjuman Auqaf, said that police officials had closed the mosque’s entry gates and barred the body from reopening them for Friday prayers.

The mosque, where over thousands of Muslim worshippers gather to offer congregational prayers, has been put under heightened security vigil and surveillance since the fresh wave of attacks in the Gaza strip.

The besieged West Asian territory has been facing a massive attack from Israel in the aftermath of an attack by Hamas militants on October 7 that killed over 1,300 Israelis. As many as 3,478 Palestinians have been since killed as Israel pounded them with continuous airstrikes that many said has caused a “humanitarian catastrophe”. 

The Anjuman added that Kashmir’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has also been put under house arrest since October 15. Mirwaiz, who is also the chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), was recently allowed to lead prayers at the Jamia after four years of house detention. He was amongst the top politicians to have been arrested by the authorities in August 2019 as the government revoked Articles 370 and 35 A and downsized J&K into two union territories despite local opposition.

“Since October 15, he continues to be under house detention and is not allowed to move out.” the body said. 

Mirwaiz’s group added that the leader, who was recently listed in the 500 most influential Muslim personalities in the world, regretted the repeated targeting of Jamia Masjid Srinagar by closing it to Muslims on Fridays and disallowing them from offering obligatory Friday prayers. 

“Such measures belie the claim of “normalcy “that the authorities make and instead cause great unease and hurt among the Muslims,” he was quoted as saying in the statement.  

On Wednesday, Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU), the region’s largest amalgam of religious, social and educational organisations led by Mirwaiz, in a statement expressed shock and outrage at the bombing of a hospital in Gaza by Israel that killed more than 500 Palestinians, 

“The people of J&K are deeply saddened and pained by this unfolding tragedy and stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine. We strongly condemn the massacre of Palestinians in a hospital, which is a blatant war crime under United Nations Charter and the Geneva Conventions,” the statement read.  

MMU while extending solidarity with the people of Palestine urged the UN and world powers to ensure that the war against hapless Palestinian citizens is “stopped and a resolution to this long term conflict immediately sought, restoring the rights of the Palestinian people to their life and land.”

Meanwhile, special prayers for the people of Palestine were held in different mosques across the valley as people expressed solidarity with the victims and calling for an end to the war.