New Delhi: Jamia Masjid, the biggest mosque in the summer capital Srinagar, was locked by authorities on Monday (March 31) and worshipers were reportedly turned away as Kashmir prepared to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr which marks the end of Ramazan.
Kashmir’s chief cleric and chairman of the moderate Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who was scheduled to deliver the Eid sermon on the occasion of the culmination of the Islamic calendar’s holiest month said that he had been again put under house-arrest by authorities.
“Without specifying any reason, I have been confined to my home and they [security personnel] are not allowing me to come out,” Mirwaiz told The Wire.
Witnesses and reports said security personnel were deployed in strength in Nowhatta locality of downtown Srinagar where the mosque is located and they didn’t allow the worshipers to enter the premises of the 14th century architectural marvel.
In a statement, Mirwaiz said that he “strongly condemned” the decision to deny the “basic religious right of the Muslims of Kashmir” to offer congregational Eid prayers.
“When huge claims of ‘normalcy’ are made everyday by the authorities, why are Muslims (in Kashmir) being kept away from their religious places and practices? What is the agenda? Is the collective identity of Kashmiri Muslims a threat to the rulers?” Mirwaiz said, adding that the decision “reflects an oppressive and authoritarian approach that prevails in Kashmir today”.
Devotees offer namaz at the Jamia Masjid during the holy month of Ramzan, in Srinagar, Friday, March 21, 2025. Photo: PTI
The decision to disallow the Eid prayers at the Jamia Masjid comes days after authorities locked the historic mosque for the Shab-e-Qadr and Jummat-ul-Vida prayers, which had sparked angry reactions from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party and other political groups in Kashmir.
On Sunday, Anjuman Auqaf, the managing body of the Jama Masjid, said that Mirwaiz would deliver the Eid sermon at the Eidgah grounds in Srinagar at 10 am or, if the weather didn’t permit, at the Jamia Masjid, while urging the authorities to facilitate the event.
In a statement, the Anjuman requested worshippers to participate in the congregational prayers, while hoping that the authorities would not create “interference or obstacles” and “respect the religious sentiments and rights of the people”.
The managing body said that the decision to ban the congregational prayers on Shab-e-Qadr, Ramazan’s holiest night, and Jummat-ul-Vida, the last Friday of the month of fasting, at the historic Jamia Masjid had caused “widespread resentment and hurt among the people”.
“It is expected that such actions will not be repeated on this sacred occasion,” the statement said.
Mirwaiz had reviewed the arrangements for the Eid prayers on Sunday (March 30) during a visit to Eidgah grounds which hosted the biggest congregational Eid prayers when Jammu and Kashmir was a state.
“After inspecting the site, he (Mirwaiz) expressed satisfaction that, with the prevailing dry weather, the Eid congregation can be held smoothly,” the statement said.
‘Construction work’
However, senior BJP leader Darakhshan Andrabi who is the chairperson of J&K Waqf Board, said on Sunday that the Eid prayers would not be held at the Eidgah grounds “due to ongoing construction work”.
“The biggest congregation will be at Hazratbal shrine. All arrangements have been completed by the Waqf Board in coordination with line departments,” Andrabi said in a statement.
Following the reading down of Article 370 in 2019, the Waqf board unilaterally took over the management of most shrines and mosques in Kashmir, a decision criticised by the Mirwaiz and other political parties of J&K in the past.
Last week, Andrabi was in the line of fire when the name plaque of the pulpit inaugurated by her at the Eidgah ground on Friday bore only the names of some lower-rank government officials.
Mubarak Gul, a ruling National Conference legislator from Srinagar, has threatened to move a privilege motion in the J&K assembly against her for ignoring the elected public representatives from the plaque.
A common step
This is not the first time that the Eid prayers in Kashmir’s largest mosque located in downtown Srinagar’s Nowhatta locality have been barred by authorities without specifying any reason in writing.
After the Bhartiya Janta Party-led Union government demoted the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories, authorities have not allowed the Anjuman to organise congregational prayers at the mosque on sacred days of the Islamic calendar.
The police administration, which is under the Union home ministry, has 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 festivities started across the Muslim world after the sighting of the crescent moon in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Shawwal.
In Jammu and Kashmir, several witnesses from various areas of the Union territory testified to the presence of the Eid crescent in the sky on Sunday evening, prompting J&K’s grand cleric, Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam to announce that the Eid would be celebrated on Monday.
According to reports, thousands of people congregated in major shrines and mosques of Jammu and Kashmir, including the Asar-e-Sharief in Hazratbal of Srinagar, Khanqah-e-Moula in Budgam district Chrari Sharief and others on Monday to offer the Eid prayers.
