Hurriyat (M) criticizes Govt for caging Mirwaiz again
Srinagar: Hurriyat Conference (M) Thursday criticized the government for caging its chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq once again and barring him from addressing the faithful at the revered shrine of Hazrat Sheikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jeelani (RA) at Khanyar on the occasion of annual Urs of the saint popularly known as Dastgeer Sahab.
The spokesman as per the statement issued here condemned the government’s decision of stopping Mirwaiz from performing his religious duties.
“The ruling regime is directly interfering into the religious matters and hurting the religious sentiments of people of Kashmir,” he said.
He said that Mirwaiz was recently released from the ten-day long house detention and just after one day of freedom, was once again caged in his own house, which deserves all forms of condemnation.
The spokesman said that for many years Mirwaiz has been addressing the gathering of faithful at the shrine of Dastgeer Sahab (RA) at Khanyar and shedding light on the life and teachings of this great Sufi saint and now it seems that even delivering a religious sermon has become a threat for the authorities.
He said thousands of people who were waiting to listen to the traditional sermon of Mirwaiz at the revered shrine were left disappointed and registered their strong protest against the government’s decision terming it as a ultimate authoritarian approach and the ruling regime’s attempt to play with the religious sentiments of people.
The spokesman termed the government’s decision of frequently caging Mirwaiz in his house as a political vendetta and frustration and warned that if the policy of repression continues, the move will be resisted by the people.
Meanwhile, addressing the devotees at the shrine, Sajada Nisheen of the shrine Khalid Masood Jeelani and Peer Ghulam Nabi strongly denounced the government’s decision of baring Mirwaiz from carrying out the 300 year old practice of Mirwaizeen and termed it as a direct interference into the religious affairs.
Soon after the Asr prayers, hundreds of faithful staged a protest outside the shrine against the ruling regime’s autocratic decision of stopping Mirwaiz from reaching the shrine and addressing the religious gathering.