Srinagar: For the first time since August 5, when the Centre scrapped J&K’s special status, Friday prayers were offered at Jamia Masjid, the grand mosque in the summer capital Srinagar.
Located in the Nowhatta area of downtown, the 14th century mosque was locked down by the J&K authorities a day before parliament read down Article 370 of constitution amid a massive clampdown across Kashmir.
Many worshippers were in tears as they entered the mosque for the first time in nearly five months to offer congregational prayers. The worshippers were also seen kissing pillars and the pulpit of the mosque which has assumed significance in the political history of the restive Valley.
“I broke down the moment I entered the mosque,” said 47-year old Wajahata Nabi of nearby Khanyar locality. “All these months something was consistently aching my heart, but today I am at peace after offering prayers here,”
While people would travel from far off places of Kashmir to offer Friday prayers at the mosque, the attendance of worshippers, both men and women, was thin on December 20.
People leaving Jamia Masjid after offering Friday prayers. Photo: Mudasir Ahmad
“How was closing down the mosque a solution to the (Kashmir) problem?” asked Khatija, an elderly woman. “By such acts, the government is only hurting our religious sentiments and fuelling anger among people.”
A resident of Bemina in Srinagar, the 69-year old woman said she was a regular at the mosque, which is built on a plot of three acres.
While the main entrance of the mosque remained locked all these months, the contingents of paramilitary CRPF and J&K police were deployed around the religious place to prevent people from entering it.
File photo from August 8 of the Jamia Masjid, ringed by concertina wire. Photo: Siddharth Varadarajan/The Wire
Though downtown restrictions were lifted a few weeks ago, followed by removal of the siege around the mosque, the Anjuman-e-Auqaf – the management body of Jamia Masjid – demanded the withdrawal of the forces from all gates of the mosque to organise prayers.
The two sides reportedly reached an agreement on Wednesday when the main entrance of the mosque was opened and people offered thw afternoon (zuhr) prayer for the first time in 136 days.
This morning, volunteers and members of the management body started a cleanliness drive inside an around the mosque, much to the delight of the worshippers.
Groups of people raised pro-freedom and anti-India slogans as a trickle of worshippers arrived for the prayers amid a fresh spell of snowfall in the Valley.
In his sermon, the imam, Syed Ahmad Syed Naqashbandi criticised the government for frequently barricading the mosque.
“It has become a routine for the government to close down this mosque. We saw it during the earlier government (PDP-BJP coalition) also and now this time as well,” said Naqashbandi.
In 2016, when Kashmir witnessed six months of protests following the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani, no congregational prayers were allowed at the mosque for 16 Fridays.
This time, congregational prayers were held after 19 consecutive Fridays.
“The authorities should stop interfering in the religious rights of people,” Naqashbandi said in his sermon. “We demand an immediate release of all Kashmiris who were detained or put under house arrest since August.”
Contingents of CRPF and J&K police personnel remained deployed outside th Jamia Masjid on Friday. Photo: Mudasir Ahmad
The imam also cautioned the government against prolonged detention of the Valley’s chief cleric, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who heads a faction of the pro-freedom Hurriyat Conference.
The mirwaiz, who normally delivers the sermon and customary pre-namaz speech from the pulpit of the mosque on Fridays, is among several hundred Kashmiri separatist, mainstream politicians and activists placed under house arrest or jailed since August 5.
“He is our rehbar (leader) and has always spoken truth to power from the pulpit of this mosque. The government can’t force him into submission by keeping him under detention,” said Abdul Majeed, a local, demanding the release of the mirwaiz.
According to historical accounts, the latest siege of the mosque was the longest since the advent of Sikh rule of Kashmir which lasted from 1819 to 1846.
“Then, the mosque was closed for 22 years,” said Kashmir civil society activist Zarief Ahmad Zarief.