Kashmiri religious leader barred from offering Friday prayers

On January 6th, Kashmiri pro-freedom and religious leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, was barred from 176th consecutive Friday prayers in the historical and prominent mosque of Kashmir, Jamia mosque. The pulpit of the largest place of worship and spiritual guidance in Kashmir has been forcibly rendered silent for the past three and a half years because the Indian state has imposed “unjustified and unlawful” restrictions on Mirwaiz-e-Kashmir (Chief Preacher of Kashmir) Umar Farooq and his socio-religious activities since August 5, 2019.

In a statement issued by the organizing committee of the mosque, the committee stated that due to his “illegal and arbitrary detention”, Umar Farooq is unable to perform his religious duties and responsibilities of preaching the divine message of the Qur’an and Sunnah and reforming the Kashmiri society which is facing a plethora of challenges in the form of rising social evils, including the rampant drug abuse^[6].

[6] https://freepresskashmir.news/2023/01/06/mirwaiz-barred-from-176th-consecutive-friday-prayers-anjuman-auqaf/