Friday prayers not allowed at Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid: Mgmt
Mosque authorities say that admn officials, cops visited the premises in the morning and directed them to lock gates
SRINAGAR: The managing body of Jamia Masjid, Kashmir’s grand mosque in Srinagar, said the Jammu & Kashmir administration barred them from holding Friday prayers on the occasion of Jummatul Vida or the final Friday of Ramadan, triggering outrage among the people.
National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah termed the government’s move unfortunate while Srinagar municipal corporation (SMC) mayor Junaid Mattu accused bureaucrats of taking the Valley ‘one step forward and ten steps backward’.
Chief priest of the mosque and Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said repeated closure of the mosque defies the claims of government’s ‘Naya Kashmir’.
Anjuman Auqaf Jama Masjid, the managing body of Jamia, said the Srinagar district magistrate and police officials visited the mosque in the morning and asked the management to lock the gates of the mosque as the “administration had decided that Jummatul Vida prayers will not be allowed at the Masjid”.
“Anjum strongly resents this move of the authorities which has caused great distress to lakhs of Muslims who traditionally come from all parts of the Valley to offer prayers on the last and greatly blessed Friday of Ramzan in Jamia Masjid where offering prayers on last Friday has great significance,” it said in a statement.
Kashmir divisional commissioner (Div Com) Vijay Kumar Bidhuri and Srinagar deputy commissioner (DC) Ajaz Asad didn’t respond to multiple calls and messages from Hindustan Times. Director general of police Vijay Kumar and Srinagar SSP Rakesh Balawal too didn’t respond to calls and messages.
Deputy inspector general of police, central Kashmir, Sunil Kumar in a late night message said : “Matter pertains to Govt”.
The Jamia Masjid or grand mosque is one of the biggest mosques in Kashmir and has been central to many important developments throughout the history of the Valley.
Devotees return dejected
On Friday, many devotees were seen returning dejected from the gate of Jamia Masjid which was locked. The huge market, which remains bustling with business activity after the prayers, also wore a deserted look.
“People converge here from all sides and it is unfortunate that the mosque was closed. We have been offering prayers here for the past three Fridays of Ramadan. What is the issue now,” asked a local, adding, “If everything is fine here, as per the officials claims, then why aren’t prayers allowed?”
An elderly, who had come from city outskirts, said, “This is painful.”
Leaders criticise move
The development drew flak from political leaders as well.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah termed the barring of prayers at Jamia as “unfortunate”. “If the situation is alright then why are prayers not allowed in Jamia Masjid,” he questioned.
He also sought the release of Jamia Masjid chief priest and Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. “Despite the passage of all these (four) years, why is Moulana Umar Sahib under detention at his home. When the situation is good, he should be released so that he can offer his prayers and deliver his (religious) sermon to people,” he said. SMC mayor, Junaid Mattu, in a tweet, condemned the action in “strongest and most unequivocal of terms”. “Law-and-order concerns and management shouldn’t be allowed to evolve into vetoes and policy/administrative embargos curtailing fundamental religious rights,” he said.
“Normalcy is a perpetual and self-sustaining phenomenon and is as much a psychological construct as it is an operative construct. But who will convince our civil servants who seem to be ruling the roost and doing a remarkable job in taking us one step forward and ten steps back,” he added.
Chief priest of the mosque and Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said that repeated closure of Jama Masjid defies government’s claim of “All is well in Naya Kashmir”.
“Jamia Masjid was locked again today and I have been under house detention for the past four years. Is this Naya Kashmir they were talking about,” he said.
Mirwaiz’s party Hurriyat Conference, in a statement, said “Such measures are a reminder that things on ground in Kashmir are not what is being propagated to the outside world by a strictly controlled narrative and huge number of forces on the ground.” Recently, J&K Waqf Board chairperson Darakshan Andrabi had announced that Eid prayers would be held at Eidgah in downtown, where the authorities barred people from offering prayers in past few years.
“I have already told you that we will offer Eid prayers this year at Eidgah. With such a pleasant atmosphere in Kashmir, the Eid prayers will be held with much happiness,” she had said.
On the announcement of J&K Waqf Board chairperson Darakshan Andrabi, director general of police Dilbag Singh had said that the law-and-order situation has improved in Srinagar and other districts.
“We need to move ahead balancing everything. In Srinagar, generally no law-and-order issues crop up now. And in other districts as well, we did not notice any law-and-order issues till now. Last year passed fine and this year also, has been peaceful…The announcement of Eid prayers is on the level of the Waqf Board. What will be the decision on Jamia, it will be taken by divisional administration,” he had said.
Thousands offer Jummatul Vida prayers at Hazratbal shrine
Thousands of people on Friday offered Jummatul Vida prayers at the Valley’s most revered shrine Dargah Hazratbal in Srinagar.
With the weather remaining pleasant, people had converged at the dargah from nooks and crannies of the Valley, including men, women and children. Owing to the traffic diversions on the occasion as well as due to work on Smart City Projects, many devotees said that they had to walk for a few kilometers to reach the shrine.
Not only from the city, but devotees even from villages and towns of the valley, poured in. “I have come from Budgam. We prayed for the well-being of all. Also, Kashmir should see days of peace,” said Ghulam Nabi from central Kashmir. There was oneway traffic for inbound as well as the outbound devotees ordered by the traffic department.
Many people from the old city had also come to offer prayers owing to the closure of the Jamia Masjid. “We had come to seek forgiveness from the Almighty. There were some logistical deficiencies in traffic management and facilities in the shrine,” said another resident.