Srinagar: National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah visited the residence Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Monday to offer condolences over the passing of Mirwaiz family patriarch.
Quoting sources, news agency KINS reported that Dr Farooq arrived at Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s residence around 4 pm.
Abdullah offered condolences to Mirwaiz Umar Farooq over the death of Mirwaiz Moulvi Muhammad Ahmad Shah, son of Mirwaiz Yousuf Shah, who passed away in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on Saturday night.
Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti also visited Mirwiaz to offer condolences.
It is heartbreaking to hear of the demise of Moulvi Ahmad Shah Sahib, she said, while regretting that Mirwaiz Umar was prevented from attending the funeral. “I fail to understand why this government takes such steps, which only remind the people of Kashmir that they are not part of a democratic nation,” she said.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq claimed that he was put under house-arrest and prevented from attending a scheduled condolence gathering for his departed relative.
The gathering was to take place at the family’s ancestral house Mirwaiz Manzil Rajouri Kadal, followed by a prayer in absentia at the Central Jama Masjid Srinagar, he said in a statement.
Mirwaiz claimed the administration not only closed the historic Mirwaiz Manzil at Rajouri Kadal here, “but also locked down the central Jama Masjid, not allowing the absentia funeral prayer”.
He questioned “Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s frequent claims of creating a ‘Naya Kashmir'”, saying such claims are “hollow when a basic human right to condole collectively is suppressed and religious rites for the deceased banned”.
