Clashes erupted between youth and government forces from the Jamia Masjid area of Srinagar, where Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was scheduled to address the people on Friday.
However, he was not allowed to leave his house, as per a statement of Hurriyat conference which accused the administration of ‘Backtracking’ on their statements.
Hurriyat said that late last night police officials visited the Mirwaiz’s residence to convey to him that he continues to be under house arrest, and will not be allowed to go to Jamia Masjid for Friday prayers and Majlis Waaz o tableeg today.
“And since early morning additional forces have been deployed outside his house and in the area converting it into a garrison. APHC strongly condemns this authoritarian flip flop of the Government,” a statement read.
Hundreds of people thronged the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar, however as Mirwaiz was not released, soon Slogans demanding the release of Mirwaiz reverberated inside the Jamia Masjid.
Two Journalists who were covering protests outside Jamia Masjid alleged that they were beaten up by police personnel. Shafat Farooq of BBC, and Saqib Majeed, an independent reporter, spoke to The Kashmiriyat and said that they were physically assaulted by the police.
The police though said that they were concerned about the well-being of the journalists and when they were asking them to go away, one of them got accidentally hit with a gun.
It was after a gap of more than 80 Fridays that Mirwaiz Umar would have addressed a Friday gathering at Jamia Masjid Srinagar which has been the hub of protests in the Kashmir valley. The whole area witnessed a period of calm after the Government of India abrogated the special status of Jammu Kashmir on 5 August 2019.
