Kashmir’s grand mufti Nasir-ul-Islam Farooqi, who chaired a meeting of Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU), an amalgam of religious bodies, on Tuesday, asked the administration to release chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and allow Friday prayers in the Valley’s shrines and historic Jamia Masjid.
A joint statement from religious leaders, released after the meeting, termed the detention of the Mirwaiz, also the Hurriyat chairman, since August 5, 2019 “a dictatorial act”.
“The government must immediately end the Mirwaiz’s house detention and allow him to resume his responsibilities that the institution of Mirwaiz entails, including the resumption of preaching at the Jamia Masjid, Srinagar, as COVID-19 cases have significantly come down,” it said.
The religious bodies demanded the reopening of the Jamia Masjid, the Hazratbal shrine and other central religious places.
The meeting appealed to the people “to uphold the strong bond of Shia-Sunni unity at all levels” in the coming Islamic month of Muharram.
