Kashmiri cleric Mirwaiz Umar Under House Arrest; Claims Being Barred From Attending Separatist Leader’s Funeral
Mirwaiz Umar posted on 'X', expressing grief over the authorities' actions: "It pains me beyond words that the authorities compelled the family of Prof. Sahab to conclude his janazah hurriedly.
SRINAGAR: Kashmir's chief Muslim cleric and Hurriyat Conference chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, was placed under house arrest late Wednesday night to prevent him from attending the funeral prayer of Prof. Abdul Gani Bhat, former chief of the separatist amalgam, who passed away at his family home in Botingo, near Sopore.
Bhat's family claimed they were pressured to perform his last rites immediately, and if they insisted on holding the rites on Thursday as planned, only ten people would be allowed to attend.
Mirwaiz Umar posted on 'X', expressing grief over the authorities' actions: "It pains me beyond words that the authorities compelled the family of Prof. Sahab to conclude his janazah hurriedly. I have been locked inside my home, denied the right to walk with him in his final journey. My 35 years of friendship and guidance with him meant so much. Many others, too, longed to pay their last respects. To be deprived of participating in his janazah and bidding him a final goodbye is an unbearable cruelty."
The authorities have not responded to these allegations as of this report's filing.