'Attack on Religious Right of Kashmir's Muslims,' Says Mirwaiz as J&K Govt Bar Eid Prayers at Srinagar Eidgah

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir authorities have barred congregational Eid prayers from taking place at the Eidgah grounds in Srinagar today (June 7) without specifying any reason in writing. The chairman of moderate Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was also reportedly put under house arrest.

In a post on X, Mirwaiz, who is also the chief cleric of Kashmir, said that the Jamia Masjid, Kashmir’s biggest mosque in the summer capital Srinagar, was also locked by the authorities where the Eid prayer was scheduled to be organised on Saturday morning.

Mirwaiz said that the grand mosque was closed on the eve of Eid for the seventh consecutive year following the reading down of Article 370 when Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated and demoted into two Union territories by the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP)-led Union government.

“In a Muslim-majority region, Muslims are deprived of their fundamental right to pray — even on their most important religious occasion celebrated across the world! What a shame on those who rule over us, and on those elected by the people who choose to remain silent as our rights are trampled over, again and again,” he said.

Mirwaiz told The Wire that security forces barricaded the entry to his house on Saturday morning without any official intimation, “They didn’t allow me to come out to lead the Eid prayers. It is an attack on the basic religious right of the Muslims of Kashmir,” he said.

No permission

In a statement on Friday (June 6), Anjuman Auqaf Jama Masjid, the managing body of the historic mosque, said that the authorities didn’t give permission for organising the Eid prayers at the Eidgah ground where thousands of people from different parts of Kashmir gathered to participate in the congregational prayers when J&K was a state.

The managing body’s statement said that it “deeply regrets” the denial of permission for organising the prayer at the Eidgah ground which was planned “in keeping with the longstanding Islamic tradition and the collective religious sentiment of the people”.

The statement said that due to the refusal, the congregational prayers were going to be organised at Jamia Masjid on Saturday morning where Mirwaiz would deliver sermon “on the philosophy and spirit of Eid and Qurbani (sacrifice)”.

“Auqaf urges all worshippers to attend the Eid prayers at Jama Masjid in large numbers and partake in the message of unity, sacrifice, and submission to the will of Allah (SWT) that Eid-ul-Adha embodies,” the statement said.

However, the 14th century architectural marvel in Nowhatta locality of downtown Srinagar was closed on Saturday with police and paramilitary troopers turning away the worshippers who tried to gather for the Eid prayers while Mirwaiz was put under house-detention.

A flock of pigeons flies past Jamia Masjid, Kashmir’s oldest mosque in Nowhatta locality of downtown Srinagar, amid snowfall on December 27, 2024. Photo: Ubaid Mukhtar.

This is not the first time that the authorities have locked Kashmir’s largest mosque for worshippers on the eve of Eid without specifying any reason in writing.

After J&K was bifurcated and split into two union territories, authorities have not allowed the Anjuman to organise congregational prayers at the mosque on sacred days of the Islamic calendar.

On March 31, the mosque was locked by authorities on Eid-ul-Fitr while Mirwaiz was also put under house arrest. Authorities have also closed the mosque on the occasions of important islamic events including on Fridays, Shab-e-Qadr and Jummat-ul-Vida.

J&K’s security administration, which is under the Union home ministry, has unofficially cited the fears of law and order breakdown in the sensitive downtown locality which has been an epicentre of anti-India and pro-freedom protests to justify the ban of congregational prayers.

Meanwhile, Eid prayers were held in the rest of the Union territory with thousands of people congregating in major shrines and mosques, including at the Asar-e-Sharief in Hazratbal of Srinagar, Khanqah-e-Moula in Budgam district's Chrari Sharief and other mosques and religious places on Saturday to mark the occasion.

Following the reading down of Article 370 in 2019, the BJP-led Waqf board of J&K has taken over the management of most shrines and mosques in the Union territory, a decision which has been criticised by the Mirwaiz and other political parties.

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