Is offering funeral prayers in your Naya Kashmir a crime: Mirwaiz

Srinagar, Nov 4: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Monday condemned the actions for once again placing him under house arrest and preventing him from attending a pre-scheduled condolence gathering for the late Mirwaiz Moulvi Muhammad Ahmad Shah, son of the Muhaajir-e-Millat Mirwaiz Moulana Muhammad Yusuf Shah and brother-in-law of Mirwaiz Molvi Muhammad Farooq.

A statement of the Mirwaiz issued here said that this gathering was to take place at the family’s ancestral house - Mirwaiz Manzil  Rajouri Kadal, followed by a funeral prayer in absentia at the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar for the deceased.

The statement said that Mirwaiz expressed disappointment that he was barred from participating in the condolence assembly for the prominent figure and family patriarch whose passing away was widely condoled and people from all over Kashmir wanted to come to express their condolences.

It said that the administration not only closed the Mirwaiz Manzil Rajouri Kadal but also locked down Jamia Masjid not allowing the funeral prayers in absentia.

The statement said that the officials of the Anjuman-e-Auqaf Jama Masjid had been informed that if funeral prayers were held in absentia, the authorities would lodge an FIR against them.

The Mirwaiz said the J&K administration’s behaviour was not only tantamount to the deprivation of his freedom but also deeply hurt the sentiments of the thousands of people who wished to express condolence and solidarity with him during this time of grief.

He also questioned the Lieutenant Governor’s frequent claims of a ‘Naya Kashmir’, saying such claims were hollow when a basic human right to condole collectively was suppressed and religious rites for the deceased banned.