Kashmir: No Friday prayers in Jamia; Sufi shrine near UN office

Srinagar: No Friday prayers were offered in Jamia Masjid in Shehar-e-Khas today due to restrictions imposed in many areas in Srinagar to foil United Nations Military Observer Group India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) office chalo call, given by separatists. The prayers were also not offered at the shrine of Syed Yaqub Sarfi Sahib in Sonwar, near UNMOGIP office. People from Dalgate, Sonawar, Gupkar and other adjoining areas alleged that they were not allowed to go to the shrine.

Police said restrictions under section 144 CrPC have been imposed in downtown and SeK, besides some parts of Civil Lines since yesterday when Separatists had called a strike on the fourth death anniversary of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru, who was hanged and later buried in Delhi’s Tihar Jail in 2013. They said the restrictions have been extended today to more areas, including falling under the jurisdiction of police station Maisuma, Kothibagh and Ram Munshi Bagh to maintain law and order.

All the roads leading to Jamia Masjid, where moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq who remained under house arrest and addresses congregation every Friday, remained closed. Both the factions of the Hurriyat Conference and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), urged the people to march from historic Lal Chowk to UNMOGIP office, demanding right to 'self-determination'. Security forces and state police personnel remained deployed outside the Masjid and adjoining areas to stop any movement on the roads.

There was also no ‘Azaan’ (call for prayers) in the Masjid for the second day today, local residents said, alleging that nobody was allowed to enter the area. However, prayers were offered in the Valley, barring in mosques on main roads in the area where restrictions were imposed, particularly on main roads though people offered prayers in the interior areas. Immediately after the prayers were over, people joined protests and raised slogans. (UNI)