The authorities in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir closed the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar on the fourth consecutive Friday, today, and disallowed the Muslims from offering Juma prayers at the grand mosque.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the authorities feared that the Juma congregation at the grand mosque could turn into an anti-India and anti-Israel demonstration.
The occupation authorities also placed senior leaders of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Maulana Masroor Abbas Ansari, and noted religious scholar Agha Syed Mohammed Hadi, under house arrest and disallowed them to address public gatherings.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in a statement condemned the closure of the grand mosque. He said thousands of people from the nook and corner of the Kashmir Valley come to the central mosque to pray but return dejected and sad. He said, it is very unfortunate that the religious freedom is repeatedly held hostage to fear of people voicing their concerns or expressing their feelings, this time in support of hapless Palestinians being bombed and killed with impunity by Israeli forces.
The Mirwaiz said it is obvious that people of Jammu and Kashmir are along with all conscientious people of the world naturally standing in solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people.
Itehad-ul-Muslimeen Jammu and Kashmir, a constituent of the APHC, in a statement said that police personnel in large numbers reached the house of its President, Maulana Masroor Abbas Ansari, this morning and placed him under house arrest.—KMS
