The J&K High Court is likely to pass directions on March 6 in a petition filed by Hurriyat chairman and the Valley’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on alleged restrictions on his movement and “denial of permission” to attend Friday prayers at Srinagar’s historic Jamia Masjid.
The court on February 21 granted the Lieutenant Governor’s administration “the last and final opportunity” to file its reply and elaborate on the reasons behind placing the 50-year-old cleric under “house arrest” in Srinagar.
In September last year, Mr. Farooq approached the court through his legal aide seeking order or direction to the J&K authorities to release “from illegal and unauthorised detention”. The petition claimed Mr. Farooq remains detained or house arrested at his Nigeen residence in Srinagar “without any order or authority in law” since August 2019, when the Centre revoked J&K’s special status.
Immediately after the petition, Mr. Farooq was allowed to attend the Friday prayers at Jamia Masjid for three weeks in September. However, immediately after the Israel-Palestine war broke out on October 7 last year, Mr. Farooq was again denied permission to visit the mosque. Security agencies had expressed fears about pro-Palestine protests from the mosque.
Contrary to the statements made by Mr. Farooq, J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has denied the accusations and claimed the cleric “was free to visit wherever he wants”.
Mr. Farooq, in the petition, however, described the statements made by the L-G as “misinformation”. The petition said the house detention has “adversely affected the entire family” and “needs immediate intervention of this court”.
“The Mirwaiz has also been directly affected by such unlawful incarceration in terms of his livelihood,” it added.
A spokesman of the Anjuman Auqaf Jama Masjid, a caretaker body of the historic mosque, on March 1, 2024, expressed concern over “the Mirwaiz being unjustly prevented from carrying out his religious duties at the Jamia Masjid, a place of significant spiritual importance to the Muslims”.
“We place our hopes in the judicial system to uphold justice, ensuring the restoration of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s religious and civil rights, as the matter is scheduled for hearing in court on March 6,” the spokesman said.
