SRINAGAR (The Thursday Times) — Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chief cleric of Indian-administered Kashmir, returned to the pulpit of Srinagar’s historic Jama Masjid on Friday after nearly two weeks under house detention, and said repeated restrictions on his religious and public activities amounted to unwarranted interference.
Addressing the Friday congregation, he said such measures hurt people and caused them inconvenience, and that the pulpit of the Jama Masjid had always stood for upholding the faith, according to local reports of the sermon.
The restrictions began after his address at the mosque on October 30, in which he referred to a report by the International Crisis Group on Jammu and Kashmir, local reports said. He missed two Friday sermons in that time, and the Anjuman Auqaf Jama Masjid, which runs the mosque, had demanded his release.
He said the restrictions had also forced the Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulama, an alliance of religious groups he leads, to postpone its first district-level meeting of scholars, which had been set for November 4 in Bandipora. The authorities did not comment on the restrictions in the reports.
A call for simpler weddings
The Mirwaiz also welcomed a decision by the Kashmir Waza Association, the body of the region’s traditional cooks, to end late-night Wazwan wedding feasts by 10 pm, calling it a positive step towards discipline and simplicity in marriage celebrations.
More needed to be done about growing extravagance, unnecessary additions to wedding customs, and competitive displays of wealth that put heavy financial burdens on families, he said, and he urged people to keep their traditions while making marriages affordable.
His return follows a run of restrictions in the region this week, including the curbs on the Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk, who says armed police have in effect confined him to his home in Leh.
