Mirwaiz Umar Farooq claimed he was placed under house arrest in Srinagar.
He said restrictions prevented him from attending Friday prayers at Jamia Masjid.
Mirwaiz questioned official claims of normalcy amid repeated curbs on his movement.
Kashmir’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday claimed that he had once again been placed under house arrest, preventing him from attending congregational prayers at Srinagar’s historic Jamia Masjid.
Sharing CCTV images on X that appeared to show security personnel and a police vehicle stationed outside his residence in the Nigeen area, Mirwaiz criticised what he described as repeated restrictions on his movement.
“Placed under house arrest yet again, on the eve of the blessed month of Rabi-ul-Awwal. The repeated and arbitrary restrictions imposed on Fridays are highly condemnable,” he wrote.
Mirwaiz also questioned the administration’s claims about normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir, pointing to the curbs imposed on him.
“If the authorities themselves do not trust their own narrative of ‘normalcy’ enough to repeatedly prevent me from going to Jama Masjid, what credibility does that narrative have?” he said.
Mirwaiz Greets Muslims On Rabi-ul-Awwal
Despite the restrictions, Mirwaiz extended greetings to Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir and around the world on the beginning of the Islamic month of Rabi-ul-Awwal.
He described the month as an opportunity for Muslims to renew their connection with the life and teachings of the Prophet of Islam and reflect on values including faith, mercy, compassion, justice, good conduct and service to humanity.
The Anjuman Auqaf Jamia Masjid, which manages the historic mosque, meanwhile announced that Mirwaiz-e-Kashmir is scheduled to deliver a special sermon at Khanqah-e-Naqshband Sahib in Srinagar’s Khwaja Bazar on Monday, August 17.
The programme, being held as part of the centuries-old Khoja Dighar tradition on the third day of Rabi-ul-Awwal, is scheduled to continue from Zuhr to Asr prayers.
Omar Abdullah Raises PoK, Article 370
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday again raised the issue of the region’s constitutional status during an Independence Day address in Srinagar.
Abdullah said developments in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir caused him “pain, sorrow, and worry” and argued that people there might have sought reintegration with Jammu and Kashmir had the Centre not revoked J&K’s special status and statehood in August 2019.
“When I see the situation across the border, I realise that our ancestors who said ‘hamlavar khabardar, hum Kashmiri hain tayyar’ (attackers beware, we Kashmiris are prepared) were right,” Abdullah said.
Referring to the 2019 constitutional changes, he added, “I am pained to see the situation in PoK. I'm sure that today the people of PoK would have risen for their reintegration into Jammu and Kashmir, if J&K's statehood and special status had not been scrapped in 2019.”
His remarks came amid reports of protests in PoK over political and economic grievances, along with action by Pakistani security forces against demonstrators.
