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‘How is everything normal?’ Srinagar Jamia Masjid shutdown on holy day sparks outrage

Citing security issues, prayers not allowed on night of Shab-e-Qadr and Jumat-ul-Vida, the last Friday of Ramzan. Masjid reopened on 1 March after being closed for best part of 2.5 years.

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Srinagar: The historic Jamia Masjid in Srinagar’s Nowhatta was shut down once again Thursday night, citing the law and order situation, and sparking outrage. Prevented from offering prayers on the occasions of Shab-e-Qadr and Jumat-ul-Vida, local residents raised questions about the administration’s claims of “normalcy” in the Valley. 

While Shab-e-Qadr (night of blessing) is considered to be the most sacred night of the Islamic calendar — normally, prayers would have been held through the night Thursday — Jumat-ul-Vida is the last Friday of Ramzan, when more than two lakh people from across the Valley gather at the Jamia Masjid to offer prayers.

The masjid had remained closed most of the time for the past two-and-a-half years, following the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, and then due to Covid protocols. It has been open since 1 March.

A vendor in the area told ThePrint, “We have not been able to offer the Shab-e-Qadr and Jumat-ul-Vida namaz at Jamia Masjid for the past three years. This is the time when everyone comes together, and this year we were very excited and hopeful to pray here. Almost 1 to 2 lakh devotees come to pray as it is believed that our wishes come true here,” 

“If the UT administration is claiming that all is well, there is normalcy, then why deny people the right to pray,” he asked.

Another local resident said, “The relevance of the Jamia Masjid is that we find solace in praying here. Allah grants our wishes here. This is a festival where everyone gets together and celebrates. Now, we are forced to remain inside homes, or read namaz in batches in smaller masjids. How do they say that the situation is fine? It is clearly not normal for us. If the situation is fine, they should open the gates of the masjid.”

“But no one can protest here; whoever does will be booked under the Public Safety Act or the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Which is why no one will raise their voice,” he added.

The locked gates of the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar Friday, on the day of Jumat-ul-Vida | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint
The locked gates of the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar Friday, on the day of Jumat-ul-Vida | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint

Speaking to ThePrint, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said that the government was “tearing the secular fabric of Kashmir”.

“It is not the first time that Kashmir is being targeted. People are being locked out of the Masjid, not allowed to offer prayers. Look what is happening across India, loudspeakers are being taken off. In J&K they are going a step ahead.”

A senior police officer told ThePrint that the decision to shut down the masjid was an “impromptu one”, after they received “credible inputs” of “movement inside the masjid”.

“We received very credible inputs that something will happen on the day when so many people gather, and so as a precautionary measure, we shut the masjid down. There were intelligence inputs of the movement of militants in the area. We do not want anything untoward to happen,” the officer said.


Also read: Jails full, J&K Police struggle to execute arrest warrants under draconian PSA


‘This could have been avoided’

Speaking to ThePrint, M.Y. Tarigami, a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and spokesperson of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), called the move “unacceptable”

He said that it could have been “well avoided” and that the prayers could have been held peacefully in consultation with people and the Ulemas, with full security in place.

“Is this how the government is trying to market normalcy?” he asked. “They should come on the ground and see how disgruntled the people are. Is this how they expect to bridge this gap and win the hearts of locals? I do not think at any time there was such a clampdown at the Jamia Masjid,” he said.

Security personnel outside the closed Jamia Masjid on the night of Shab-e-Qadr Thursday | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint
Security personnel outside the closed Jamia Masjid on the night of Shab-e-Qadr Thursday | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint

Tarigami also said that the police could very well have managed law and order.

“People are emotionally attached to the masjid. This is not a question of law and order but of will. If the forces cannot protect the people going for prayers, then why make tall claims? Shutting down a place, just because you are not sure how to protect the people, is not a solution. For how long will they keep doing this,” he asked.

 Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah also told reporters that the order to shut down the Jamia Masjid was a sign of the abnormal situation in the Valley.

“If the situation is normal here, why is the government imposing restrictions on prayers? It is evidence of an abnormal situation. If not by its words, then by its action, the government is proving that the situation in Kashmir is far from normal,” Abdullah told reporters here.

“It is either artificially created normalcy, or the authorities are suppressing people to create an air of normalcy to sell a narrative across the country,” he said.

(Edited by Rohan Manoj)


Also read: ‘Poor security’, ‘bad conditions’: Why Panchayat members holed up in Srinagar hotels are angry


 

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