Authorities did not allow congregational prayers at the historic Jama Masjid Srinagar on Jumu’atul-Wida, the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, residents and religious leaders said on Friday.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, who was scheduled to deliver the sermon, said he had been placed under house arrest.
Posting on the social media platform X, Farooq shared photographs of the mosque’s locked gates and criticised the restrictions. He compared the closure to limitations imposed by Israeli authorities at Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan.
“On the last Friday of holy Ramzan, when tens of thousands gather from towns and villages for prayers and supplication at the historic Jama Masjid Srinagar, its gates have once again been locked from all sides,” Farooq wrote.
Local residents said congregational prayers at the mosque had been barred on Jumu’atul-Wida for several years.
Security was heightened across Srinagar ahead of the prayers, according to visuals shared by the news agency Indo-Asian News Service.
Jumu’atul-Wida, considered the holiest Friday in the Islamic calendar, falls on the final Friday of Ramadan. The day is also observed by some as Yaum-al-Quds, expressing solidarity with Palestinians. Large congregations traditionally gather at central mosques for prayers.
On Thursday, Nasir-ul-Islam announced that Jumu’atul-Wida would be observed on March 13 this year, as the following Friday may coincide with the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr.