In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, senior All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has said that keeping him forcibly away from the pulpit of central Jamia Masjid, Srinagar, the most representative symbol of the indigenous Muslim identity and tradition of Kashmir, is extremely sad and tragic.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq who continues to remain under house arrest in Srinagar in a statement said, “This oppressive measure seems fundamentally aimed at eroding the Muslim character of Jammu and Kashmir by undermining its Islamic practices, traditions and symbols in the name of so-called integration drive.”
“One fails to understand any other reason, if any, for silencing the pulpit of central Jamia Masjid since August 2019,” he deplored and said that the fear of demographic change and disempowerment among people of Jammu and Kashmir has deepened by such repressive actions.
The APHC leader maintained that the drastic changes brought to the land laws of J&K by the authorities in the name of “reforms” are actually meant to abolish the owners’ right, disempower them and to settle outsiders there.
“It’s a grave issue as it affects the future of the tens of thousands of Kashmiri people,” he said. Mirwaiz said such diktats would add to the worries of the Kashmiri people.—KMS
