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SRINAGAR: On the last Friday of Ramzan, authorities in J&K closed the historic Jamia Masjid in Srinagar and placed Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chief cleric of Kashmir, under house detention, preventing him from delivering the sermon and leading the prayers.Mirwaiz said this was the seventh consecutive year that the mosque had been closed on the occasion of Jumat-ul-Vida (the Friday before Eid-ul-Fitr) and Muslims had been denied permission to pray there. “As Israel has forcibly shut the gates of Masjid al-Aqsa during Ramzan, a similar painful reality is witnessed here. Our hearts bleed,” he said.However, Friday congregational prayers were held elsewhere across the Valley, including at the revered Hazratbal Shrine, where thousands of people offered namaz.
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Former chief minister Farooq Abdullah was also seen offering prayers at Hazratbal.Police have not issued any statement on the closure of the Srinagar Jamia Masjid, but Anjuman Auqaf, which manages the mosque, lashed out at the authorities for locking the gates from all sides. “Such restrictions not only hurt the religious sentiments of the people, but also amount to denying worshippers their fundamental right to pray,” he said. The Auqaf said this approach of the authorities had resulted in the “arbitrary closure of Jamia Masjid multiple times throughout the year, reflecting continued insecurities and an unjustified policy of restrictions on religious practices”.PDP legislator from Budgam, Muntazir Mehdi, condemned the move saying, “Preventing Muslims from gathering at Jamia Masjid on this blessed day is both painful and unacceptable.”As Shia Muslims observe the last Friday of Ramzan as Quds Day to express solidarity with Palestinians, several demonstrations were held in different parts of Kashmir. The largest Shia demonstration was held in central Kashmir’s Budgam district, where thousands of protesters took out a huge procession after the Friday prayers. They were carrying posters of Mojtaba Khamenei and his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei while chanting slogans in support of Iran and its leadership.
