Onlykashmir.in News Desk
Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulama (MMU) Jammu and Kashmir has postponed its first district-level Ulema meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, November 4, at Darul Uloom Raheemiyah, Bandipora. The body cited the continued house arrest of its patron, Mirwaiz-e-Kashmir Dr Moulvi Mohammad Umar Farooq, for the past three consecutive days and the uncertainty over whether he would be able to attend.
The meeting was planned as a follow-up to the one-day Ulema conference the MMU convened on September 15, 2026, in Srinagar. That conference brought together more than 70 prominent religious scholars representing different schools of thought and regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
At the conference, participants identified serious societal and environmental challenges and deliberated on the role of ulema in reform and redressal. The issues included promotion of inter-sect harmony, drug and substance abuse, suicides and self-harm, mental and emotional distress among youth, irresponsible use of social media, weakening family bonds, moral decline and the growing disconnect of young people from religious and community institutions. Environmental degradation and its consequences were also discussed.
It was decided that district-level meetings would be held across Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh to widen the scope and benefit of the outreach. The Bandipora gathering was to be the first in that series.
The MMU said all arrangements for the Bandipora meeting had been completed and that all prominent ulema were expected to participate. However, the continued restrictions on the Mirwaiz created uncertainty over his participation, leaving the organisers with no option but to postpone the programme.
Terming the continued house arrest deeply unfortunate and condemnable, the MMU said such restrictions interfere with the religious and social responsibilities of the Mirwaiz and also obstruct important collective efforts by religious scholars towards social reform, unity and community welfare. The body expressed regret over the disruption of what it described as an important religious and social initiative.
The Mirwaiz, who heads the Anjuman Auqaf Jama Masjid in Srinagar, is the chief cleric of the Valley and a central figure in the MMU. The postponement shows how restrictions on his movement can have knock-on effects on programmes that depend on his presence, particularly those meant to bring scholars from different schools of thought onto a common platform.
No new date has been announced for the Bandipora meeting. The MMU is expected to reschedule it once the situation allows the Mirwaiz to take part. The authorities have not offered any official comment in the statement issued by the organisation.
