India denies Kashmiri Muslims the right to congregate for Friday prayer

On 20th October, India disallowed the Friday congregational prayers at the historic Jamia mosque in Srinagar. This was the second consecutive Friday in the month of October when the prayers were disallowed at the mosque.

The mosque was locked up by government officials and a heavy military presence was kept throughout the mosque. Hundreds of Kashmiri Muslims coming from different parts of the valley were forcibly sent back and denied the right to pray in the mosque.

Speaking to us on the condition of anonymity, a Kashmiri scholar stated that the government is disallowing the prayers because it does not want Kashmiri Muslims to pray for the Muslims in Gaza and to express solidarity with them during the Friday prayers.

In the past, such expressions of solidarity were met with detentions and severe reprisals from the state. For example, in May 2021, when Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were firing missiles on Gaza, a Kashmiri artist was detained by India for painting a pro-Palestine graffiti on a wall in Kashmir. Soon after, at least 20 people were detained for their peaceful protest demanding an end to Israeli war crimes against the people of Gaza.