Mirwaiz Umar Farooq barred from offering Friday prayers at Jamia Masjid

The J&K authorities on Friday put Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under house arrest and did not allow him to address the Friday congregation at the historic Jama Masjid in Srinagar.

Mirwaiz denounced his repeated house detention lamenting that the decision to lock him inside his residence was in contravention to the statements by the authorities claiming that “things are great in J&K and I am a free man who can go anywhere”.

“Repression of any kind, including on religious rights, cannot bring or maintain peace. Those in charge of decision-making should revisit this policy, considering historical precedents and adopting a long-term perspective,” said Mirwaiz.


The Hurriyat leader was released after on September 22 this year after a four-year house arrest since August 4, 2019. However, fearing pro-Palestinian protests after the Friday prayers in the second week of October, the authorities locked him up again and disallowed the Friday prayers at Jama Masjid. Since September 22, Mirwaiz has been permitted to go to the Jama Masjid on three Fridays. On every other Friday, Mirwaiz has been put under house arrest which, he said, has been “without any reason provided by the authorities”.

“Since October 13, Jamia Masjid itself was locked to people for ten consecutive Fridays, and it was only during the last week that people were allowed to offer Friday prayers there. However, the duration of this permission remains uncertain while the ban on me continues,” said Mirwaiz. “The authorities whimsically open or close the central Jamia Masjid to Muslims for prayers without accountability, and no one can inquire why,” he said.

The Hurriyat chief said that this “arbitrariness and disregard for religious rights and sentiments of Muslims and strong-arm tactics of the authorities –– even on the basic human principle of allowing the practice of religion uninterrupted –– are telling signs of the time and situation people are living in”.