KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
As Kashmir continues to remain shut for consecutive 105 days on Friday, it is fifteenth week and no mandatory congregational Friday prayers were allowed at historic Jamia Masjid in Srinagar.
Last time, it was on July 08, 2016 – when popular militant commander Burhan Wani was killed in South Kashmir’s Bemdoora area of Islamabad district – that the faithful offered congregational Friday prayers in the Jamia Masjid.
The forces have put on massive restrictions around Jamia Masjid and do not allow the faithful to offer prayers especially the mandatory Friday prayers.
The continuous siege of Jamia Masjid situated in Old Srinagar’s Nowhatta has been an old tactic of rulers of Kashmir. The last two civilian uprising which Kashmir witnessed in 2010 and 2008, the Jamia Masjid – where Kashmir’s chief cleric and prominent resistance leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq leads Friday prayers – was sealed by the consecutive governments.
The Sikh rulers of Kashmir in 19th century would often close the historic Masjid to disallow people from rising against then establishment.
On last Thursday, the local populace of Old Srinagar had planned to march, in protest, towards Jamia Masjid against the ban on Friday prayers. However, the government disallowed it. Later in the evening, clashes erupted around the historic Jamia Masjid.
Authorities have placed restrictions in Srinagar and other major towns of Kashmir, following the call of resistance leadership for pro-freedom protests and march to the residence of MLAs.
While all the business establishments and Educational Institutions remain shut, there is very thin movement of private vehicles on the roads in Srinagar and other towns of Kashmir.
Since the July 9, a day after Wani’s death, Kashmir is witnessing massive civilian uprising during which 94 civilians have been killed, more than fifteen thousand others injured and nearly ten thousand arrested by forces.
