Authorities on Friday disallowed Hurriyat chairman and Kashmir Valley chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to lead the prayers at Jamia Masjid in Srinagar even as the Jammu and Kashmir High Court has listed his “house detention” case for March 6.
Sources said the authorities and the caretaker body of Jamia Masjid, Anjuman Auqaf Jama Masjid, held several rounds of talks in the past few days to prepare the ground for the 50-year-old Mirwaiz to deliver the sermon and join congregational prayers this Friday. However, sources said the talks failed to yield results.
“On Thursday, the authorities informed them that the Mirwaiz would be allowed to come to Jamia for the Friday prayers and sermon, but Friday morning they reneged on their promise and again put him under house detention,” a spokesperson of the Auqaf said.
