Srinagar, Jan 1: Hurriyat (M) on Tuesday said the phone call of former chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti to its chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, condemning the Jamia Masjid incident, is “quite ironical” as it was during her tenure as CM that the grand mosque was most barred to people for offering of Friday prayers.
Saying that Mehbooba was broadcasting it (her condemnation) in media for obvious reasons, the Hurriyat (M) spokesman said that in 2016 Jamia Masjid was locked down for three months, in 2017 for the first time even Juma-tul-Vida congregation during Ramadan was not allowed and in 2018, for 16 Friday prayers were barred in the mosque.
“On all these days Mirwaiz was either put under house arrest or in jail as in 2016,” the spokesman said.
He added that if Mehbooba, during her tenure as CM, had the same feelings towards Jamia Masjid which she calls “the landmark and most important religious and social institution of Kashmir” and at the desecration of which she is “outraged” today, and had she shown the courage to stand up for the religious rights of the Muslims of valley instead of presiding over the bans and bars on Jamia Masjid then her “outrage” would, at least, have been sincere.
