'Kashmiris Stand Shoulder to Shoulder With Victims': Mirwaiz in Friday Sermon at Jamia Masjid

Srinagar: Moderate Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was allowed to deliver the Friday sermon on April 25 at the Jamia Masjid in downtown Srinagar, his office said. In his sermon, Mirwaiz prayed for patience and strength for the families of slain victims of the Pahalgam attack and quick recovery of the wounded.

“Kashmiris have always opened their hearts and the doors of their homes for the tourists. We are renowned for our hospitality across the world. In this testing time, we have upheld these principles by putting their lives at risk to save tourists,” he said, while referring to Syed Adil Shah who was the lone Kashmiri Muslim killed in the attack.

“The grief is not theirs alone,” Mirwaiz said, of the affected families, “Kashmiris stand shoulder to shoulder with the victims”.

A one-minute silence was observed in the grand mosque to condemn the attack and express solidarity with its victims.

The permission comes after Mirwaiz, who is also the chief cleric of Kashmir, was disallowed from visiting the historic mosque in Nowhatta locality with authorities verbally conveying to his office on four consecutive Fridays that he won’t be allowed to leave his home.

“The authorities have conveyed that Mirwaiz will be allowed to go to Jamia Masjid to offer Friday prayers,” his office said in a post on X.

There is a wave of anxiety in Kashmir after the terror attack in Pahalgam, in which at least 26 civilians, mostly tourists from the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka among others, were killed. In at least two instances, gunmen were seen singling out non-Muslims from the crowds before shooting them from close range.

The ghastly nature of the attack has prompted outrage across the country during which Kashmiri students studying in some educational institutions of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh were manhandled and assaulted by irate mobs. There are unverified reports of attacks on some other Kashmiri civilians also.

'Deeply needed'

Former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti welcomed the “deeply needed” move to allow Mirwaiz to deliver his Friday sermon, saying that the people of Kashmir were “seeking solace” in the aftermath of the terror attack in Pahalgam which has plunged the country into a mourning.

Mufti appealed to Mirwaiz, mosque imams and religious leaders in Kashmir “to remember the victims in their heartfelt prayers”, “Let us raise our hands together as one community to pray for the souls of the departed, for strength to their families and for lasting peace and healing across our region. Ameen,” she said in a post on X.

Following the reading down of Article 370, Mirwaiz has been largely confined to his home on Fridays by the administration while the historic mosque has also been shut for worshippers.

Mirwaiz, who has been allowed to participate in social and other functions with greater frequency in recent months, has previously termed the decision to curb his movement as an “infringement” of his “constitutional and religious rights”.

In the past, the moderate leader, whose father was assassinated by militants allegedly for attending secret talks on Kashmir with New Delhi in the early years of insurgency, participated in Track-II dialogue between India, Pakistan and the Hurriyat leadership in Jammu and Kashmir during the first Bhartiya Janta Party-led NDA government.

This article was first published at 1:15 PM on April 25. It has been updated with Mirwaiz's statement at Jamia Masjid.

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