As the World Religion Day is being observed globally, today, Indian continues to suppress the religious freedom in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
A report compiled by Kashmir Media Service in connection with the Day said, the violation of sanctity of historic Jamia Masjid Srinagar during a military operation in August 1989, desecration of Dargah Hazratbal during the worst military siege in November 1993 and burning of Charar-e-Sharif in May 1995 are some of glaring examples how India is treating the religion freedom in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Besides, the Jamia Masjid, Srinagar, was kept shut by the authorities for Friday prayers for three years following the August 05, 2019 move.
Eid and Shab-e-Qadr prayers were also not allowed in the Jamia Masjid on the holiest night of the year for Muslims, Shab-e-Qadr, last year. On this night during Ramadan, people from across the territory throng the mosque to pray throughout the night. The administration cited “law and order” problems for this ban and only a few days later it disallowed Eid prayers in the old town Eidgah where they are held traditionally and asked for these prayers to be carried out inside the Jamia Masjid.
Notably, “praying in the open” is an important part of Eid prayers. There is no doubt that such tactics are not only violations of religious freedom but have also become a part of the psychological warfare that India is applying against the Kashmiri Muslims.
Moreover, in an incident of blatant breach of religious place, Indian soldiers led by an officer, barged into Zadoora Jamia Masjid in Pulwama district on the intervening night of June 23 and June 24 in 2023 and forced the worshipers to chant Hindu slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’ over the loudspeakers of the mosque.
This desecration is part of the psychological warfare and done with full knowledge of the consequences. In 2013, as the videos of an incident of the desecration of a mosque and Quran by the troops went viral, Muslims in the region protested and were met with brute force, leading to the death of four protesters.
Muslim clerics from Kashmir have often been subjected to detention without charges. In 2022, 7 prominent religious leaders including Maulana Abdul Rashid Dawoodi, Maulana Mushtaq Ahmad Veeri, Fahim Ramzan and Ghazi Moinul Islam were arrested from different areas of occupied Kashmir and sent to a jail in Jammu region.
Maulana Sarjan Barkati was arrested on 16 September 2023 and still remains in jail. Ahead of the August 05, 2019 illegal action, the Modi government had banned Jamaat-e-Islami and arrested about 300 members of the organization, including its Ameer, Dr Abdul Hameed Fayaz.
The attacks of the Indian occupation on Islam and Muslims in occupied Kashmir have not only been blatant and evident, but stealth and under cover too. While Friday sermons by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and other prominent religious leaders have been disallowed owing either to their house arrests or detentions, an “Indianized” version of Friday sermons is being popularized.—KMS
