“Indian authorities released Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the influential leader and chief Muslim cleric of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), from house detention after more than four years.”
India frees Mirwaiz Umar Farooq: In 2019, the government imprisoned the 50-year-old along with other political figures and thousands of locals when it imposed federal rule and revoked the region’s semi-autonomous status under the constitution, despite its Muslim majority.
India shut down the internet for several months after that while strengthening its armed personnel in the area to suppress unrest.
Mirwaiz was place under house arrest in Srinagar, near his Jamia Masjid mosque, while the majority of those arrested were later release.
For the first time in 218 weeks, he presided over Friday prayers in front of thousands of worshippers as ladies showered him with sweets and religious chants echoed throughout the 14th-century structure.
A judge had questioned his ongoing imprisonment last week, and he informed the audience that the police had notified him on Thursday of his impending release.
He cried and added, “This time of my house imprisonment and separation from my people has been the most agonising for me since the loss of my father.
The mosque has a long history of hosting political rallies and anti-Indian protests.
You might think we have a low spirit, God willing. No, our spirits are good,” he insisted, calling the constitutional amendments made by the Hindu nationalist administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi “inacceptable”.
Regarding Ukraine, Modi “stressed that now is not the time for war. He’s right, he continued. “Talking should be used to resolve differences rather than force or unilateral action.”
He demanded the release of “numerous political prisoners.”
“Heavy Security at Mosque as Prominent Figure Returns; Criticisms of Government Actions”
Counterinsurgency police and commandos were present at the heavily guard mosque on Friday.
After the prayers, regular worshipper Bashir Ahmed told AFP, “Our beloved and our king of hope has returned to this mosque after so long.”
“How am I not crying with happiness?”
Since the implementation of direct rule, the government has restricted both public protests and media freedoms.
Critics have criticised this programme as “settler colonialism” because it permitted Indians from other parts of the country to purchase land and apply for government jobs in the territory. These actions were intended to bring “peace and prosperity” to the area.