Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Dec 31: Friday congregational prayers were once again disallowed at the historic Jamia Masjid here on the last Friday of the year.
Anjuman Auqaf Jamia Masjid in a statement issued said that as the year ends, Jamia Masjid remained out of bounds for Muslims of the Valley for obligatory Friday prayers as “its lockdown by authorities continues.”
It also rued the continuous “detention” of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and stated that Mirwaiz remains under house arrest for the third consecutive year since 2019.
Anjuman said that the mosque has been “forcibly” locked down on 45 Fridays in 2021, and consecutively for 21 Fridays so far.
“People of Kashmir, Ulemas and the Anjuman have repeatedly been urging the authorities to allow people to offer Friday prayers in Jamia Masjid and release the Mirwaiz of Kashmir, whose all human rights have been seized, but to no avail,” the Anjuman said.
It is to be noted, earlier, Srinagar Mayor, Junaid Azim Mattu, on the eve of Christmas, had also written to the LG, urging him to allow the conduct of Friday prayers at the Jamia Masjid.
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