Srinagar, India (AhlulBayt News Agency) - The moves assumes significance as the office of the grand mufti is widely believed to be the creation of Sheikh Abdullah, the founder of the ruling National Conference party, to undercut the influence of the Mirwaiz family which has traditionally been a rival to the pro-India party.
Mirwaiz Umer Farooq heads the main pro-freedom alliance Hurriyat Conference in Kashmir.
In a strongly-worded statement, the grand mufti said that curbs on Friday prayers, particularly at the Jamia Masjid (a Mirwaiz bastion), were an aggression against Islamic tenets, and that people would be prompted to remove the bars themselves if the situation persisted.
He asked all clerics and religious leaders to raise their voice against the government for imposing restrictions on Friday prayers, and said that the masses should ensure a peaceful atmosphere for the namaz (prayers).
The Mufti demanded that all leaders and clerics, including Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, should be freed from house arrest, and asked authorities to have an open mind to accept the truth.
Mufti, generally considered close to the state, also termed the Kashmir issue as one lingering for the past 63 years on which the first prime minister of independent India had made specific promises to the masses. Mufti also asked the leading Indian Muslim' religio-politicl party Jami’at-e-Ulama-e-Hind to adopt a “correct” approach towards Kashmir.
Jamiat had recently declared Kashmir as an integral part of Indian union while flaying human rights violations of Kashmiris by the Indian state forces.
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