Hurriyat Conference chairperson, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, was again stopped by police from leaving his house to deliver the sermon at Kashmir’s historic Jamia Masjid.
Earlier, the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha denied the house arrest of the separatist leader claiming that the security forces were deployed at his residence for “his protection”. In an interview with BBC Hindi, Sinha said, “he is neither arrested nor detained. He must decide what he wants to do.”
Later, after LG’s statement, Anjuman Auqaf Jamia Masjid (AAJM), the managing body of Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid, issued a statement saying that preparations for Kashmir’s chief cleric, Mirwaiz’s sermon had been made and congregational prayers after nearly three years had been made. On Friday morning, however, Mirwaiz was stopped as soon as he tried venturing out.