The administration of lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha barred the biggest congregations at Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid during Shab-e-Qadr on Thursday night and Jumat-ul-Vida on Friday, sparking widespread condemnation in Kashmir.
Shab-e-Qadr, the night of prayers, and Jumat-ul-Vida, the last Friday of Ramzan, are significant dates on the Islamic calendar.
Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid has traditionally hosted the biggest congregations on these occasions in Kashmir but the administration has prevented such gatherings after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, anticipating protests.
Such actions fly in the face of home minister Amit Shah’s recent claim that separatism is history in Kashmir.
Kashmir’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said the mosque remained closed for Shab-e-Qadr and Jumat-ul-Vida. He said he too was placed under house detention to prevent him from reaching the mosque.
“After Shab-e-Qadr, Jama Masjid Srinagar continues to remain closed to people and I under house detention even today on Jumat-ul-Vida, when lakhs of people eagerly await the whole year to offer congregational prayers on this blessed Friday for great reward and blessing from Allah,” the Mirwaiz said on X.
He shared pictures and video of the shut mosque and questioned the repeated restrictions on religious practices in Kashmir.
“Want to ask the authorities why is this most important centre of Kashmir’s religious identity and affinity repeatedly targeted and people’s fundamental rights to religious practice curbed when tall claims of normality aretrumpeted every day?” the Mirwaiz asked.
He also hit out at the ruling National Conference, saying: “Those ruling in the people’s name cannot absolve themselves from standing up to address this gross injustice towards Muslims of the Valley and the repeated closure of #JamaMasjid.”
NC spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq said it was “deeply unfortunate and unfair” to keep Jamia shut but he too avoided mentioning the LG’s administration.
Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti called Jamia’s closure another example of the “collective punishment” imposed on Kashmiris.
