Srinagar: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, president of the Hurrit Conference, was allowed to give sermons on Friday at the historic Jamia Mosque in Srinagar after two weeks, and he used the Jammu and Kashmir administration to prevent people from using their fundamental rights in relation to religious practices.In a statement issued after prayers, Mirwaiz, who was placed under the arrest of the house on the last two Fridays, said: “Frequent I am completely uncontrolled to stop coming from coming to Jamia Mosque on Friday. It is a direct intervention in people’s religious rights that do not extend them, no other purpose.”Such restrictions “do not change historical facts”, he said.Authorities had prevented Mirwaiz Farooq from leading Friday’s prayers earlier this month, allegedly stopped him in his sermon on 13 July 1931 from giving any reference to the murder of 22 people during the rebellion against Maharaja Hari Singh. The date holds historical significance in Kashmir.“I have always asked that people are allowed to practice their fundamental rights independently, including the right to offer prayers and listen to Friday’s teachings,” said Mirwaiz. “I hope these arbitrary restrictions will be stopped, and I am allowed to visit Jamia Mosque without obstruction.”In his sermon, he also focused on the position of Palestine and expressed “with” Gaza’s oppressed people “. “We gather here peacefully, but our hearts bleed for our brothers and sisters, who are facing an unprecedented human havoc and starvation. Innocent civilians, especially children, are constantly being bombing, even they search for food and safety. Starvation is being used as a weapon of war,” He said.Since his release in September 2023, Mirwaiz has often faced sanctions after the arrest of the house for four years after the cancellation of Article 370 in 2019, police often detained him at home on Friday without offering any clarification.
