One month on, no Friday prayers allowed at Kashmir’s grand mosque

Bilal Bashir Bhat
Srinagar, Oct 20 (Only Kashmir): One month has passed away since 22 September 2017 devotees were able to offer Friday congregation prayers at Kashmir’s grand mosque situated in old city of Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar because of no restriction and curfew like situation in the area.
Every morning of Fridays the roads leading to the mosque are being sealed with concertina wires and a huge deployment of forces, besides curfew like restrictions in and around the areas of mosque where Valley’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq delivers the Friday sermon of about 50,000 faithful.

Not only the locking down of Masjid, moderate Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, who delivers Friday sermon before the Friday prayers, also remain under in a bid to stop him to visit the mosque.
Though the majority of members of the ruling dispensation are Muslims, however, fearing what they say disturbance in law and order the authorities not only seal the grand mosque but also make hostage of thousands of people in the nearby localities by imposing strict Curfew like restrictions.
This year only for the first time in the living history of Kashmir no Friday prayers were allowed at Kashmir’s grand mosque popularly known as Jamia Masjid Srinagar on the eve of last Friday of Ramadan during which some 10 lac people throng the mosque.
Over a decade it has become now common to seal the Jamia Masjid. In 2016, the Friday congregational prayers were allowed at Jamia Masjid after 19 weeks.
The repeated curfew and restrictions in Old City Srinagar has drew its negative effects on the business community apart from ill effects on the Academic future of students due to the closure of Educational institutions.
The mosque was built in 15th century by the then-Muslim king Sultan Sikander. It is spread over a vast area, with four entry gates and numerous pillars holding the crafted wooden ceiling.

Meanwhile a spokesman of Moderate Hurriyat in a statement to Onlykashmir.in while taking a dig at the government for once again disallowing the congregational prayers on the fourth consecutive Friday and turning entire downtown into a military fortress terming it as the worst form of repression and dictatorship.
The spokesman said that confining the entire downtown population to their homes and placing entire resistance leadership under house detention and lodging many others in police lock ups as the ill mind set and short sightedness of the ruling class.
Previously, only the Sikh and Dogra rulers of the state are recorded to have closed the mosque for prayers for years together. In the period following the end of Dogra rule, the masjid has witnessed intermittent brief periods of siege enforced by the state administration or New Delhi. (OK)