1 week Ago
Chief cleric of Jamia Masjid Srinagar Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Monday said that Waqf Amendment Act was an assault on the Muslim identity and expressed hope that Supreme Court will accept the concerns of the community and reject the controversial act. Mirwaiz made these remarks after he visited Budgam to offer condolences on the demise of prominent Islamic Shia scholar Aga Syed Baqir Al-Moosavi. He regretted what he said were the ongoing efforts to fragment the Muslim community at various levels—sectarian, political and social.
Mirwaiz said that the Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulama (MMU), a representative body of Muslim scholars and religious institutions, was not even allowed by the authorities to hold a meeting to discuss the matter. “Despite this, we stand united—from the Valley to Jammu and Ladakh—in opposing this unjust law. We fully support and stand with the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and will follow their lead and programme in this regard,” he said.
Mirwaiz said that last week MMU, headed by him, had sought a convention on Waqf in which scholars had also come from Jammu, Leh and Kargil. “But unfortunately the government did not allow us to hold the convention. However, we passed a joint resolution regarding Waqf and decided that we would support any decision which All India Muslims Personal Law Board will take on Waqf,” he said.
Mirwaiz expressed cautious optimism regarding the Supreme Court’s interim relief on the Waqf issue, hoping that the apex court will uphold the constitutional and religious rights of the Muslim community and ultimately strike down the discriminatory law. “We hope the Supreme Court will accept our concerns and reject this Waqf Amendment Bill. Not only J&K Muslims but Muslim leadership across the country are united in saying that there should be no interference in our Muslim institutions.
And they should be given a right to run their institutions like other faiths run their institutions,” he said. Lashing out at the authorities for putting restrictions on him, Mirwaiz said that he was repeatedly barred from offering Friday prayers at the historic Jama Masjid Srinagar, and that the mosque remains locked on important religious occasions. “I have approached the high court regarding my prolonged and arbitrary house arrest, and a hearing is scheduled for this week.
I sincerely hope that the court will intervene and ask the government to cease this unjust interference in my religious rights,” he said..
