SRINAGAR: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has strongly denounced the occupation authorities for prohibiting Jumatul Wida prayers at the historic Jamia Masjid in Srinagar, stating that Kashmiri Muslims are deprived of all freedoms, including religious freedom, in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
According to Kashmir Media Service, APHC spokesman Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas criticized the barring of Kashmiri people from offering Jumatul Wida prayers at the Jamia Masjid, as well as the enforced lockdowns imposed on the mosque and the house arrest of Mirwaiz by the BJP regime, labeling them as blatant violations of religious and other basic rights of the territory’s people.
The statement further highlighted that the curtailment of religious freedom for Kashmiri Muslims is another example of the Hindutva BJP/RSS regime’s ongoing assault on religious freedoms, which constitutes a serious violation of applicable international human rights law.
Minhas lamented the consistent bans and lockdowns imposed on the Jamia Masjid by Indian authorities over the past three decades, stating that the denial of congregational prayers at the grand mosque reflects deep-rooted prejudice on the part of Indian authorities toward Muslim sentiments in IIOJK.
In reference to the recent killing of two innocent youths by Indian troops in the Uri area of Baramulla, the APHC spokesman asserted that the Modi regime has intensified the genocide of Kashmiris following the abrogation of the special status of IIOJK. However, he maintained that Kashmiris remain determined to resist the Hindutva regime’s nefarious plans aimed at depriving them of their rights, identity, and homeland.
The APHC called upon the UN and other peace-loving countries to hold India accountable for its suppression of religious rights and other freedoms of the people in IIOJK.
