Srinagar: The constant restrictions on prayers and closure of Srinagar’s great Jamia Masjid mosque make Muslims feel like chains have been wrapped around their throats, as Indian authorities see the religious institution as a so-called ‘nerve center’ for protests that challenge New Delhi’s sovereignty over the disputed region.
Jamia Masjid, the grand mosque of Srinagar, dominates its neighborhood with an imposing main gate and massive turrets. It can hold 33,000 worshippers, and on special occasions over the years, hundreds of thousands of Muslims have filled nearby lanes and roads to offer prayers led from the mosque.
But Indian authorities see the mosque as a trouble spot – what they call as a “nerve center” for protests and clashes that challenge India over the disputed Kashmir region.
For Kashmiri Muslims it is a sacred venue for Friday prayers and a place they can raise their voices for political rights.
In this bitter dispute, the mosque in Kashmir’s main city has largely remained closed for the past two years. The mosque’s chief imam has been detained in his home almost nonstop throughout that time, and the mosque’s main gate is padlocked and blocked with corrugated tin sheets on Fridays. The closure of the mosque, which is revered by Kashmir’s mostly Muslim population, has deepened their anger.
“There is a constant feeling that something is missing in my life,” said Bashir Ahmed, 65, a retired government employee who has offered prayers at the mosque over five decades.
Indian authorities refused to comment on the mosque restrictions despite repeated queries from The Associated Press (AP). In the past, officials have said the government was forced to close the mosque because its management committee was unable to stop anti-India protests on the premises.
Kashmir’s Jamia Masjid, or the grand mosque, is seen through its gate that remains locked on Fridays in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Nov. 26, 2021. (AP Photo)
The closing of the 600-year-old mosque came amid a clampdown that began in 2019 after the government stripped Kashmir of its long-held semiautonomous status.
In the past two years, some of the region’s other mosques and shrines – also closed for months due to the Indian government’s crackdown and the subsequent pandemic – have been allowed to offer religious services.
Jamia Masjid has remained out of bounds to worshippers for prayers on Friday, which is the main day of congregational worship in Islam. Authorities allow the mosque to remain open the other six days, but only a few hundred worshippers assemble there on those occasions, compared to the tens of thousands that often gathered on Fridays.
“This is the central mosque where our ancestors, scholars and spiritual masters have prayed and meditated for centuries,” said Altaf Ahmad Bhat, one of the officials at the grand mosque. He dismissed the law-and-order reasons cited by the authorities as “absurd,” and added that discussions about social, economic and political issues affecting Muslims were a core religious function of any grand mosque.
The grand mosque is mainly reserved for mandatory Friday congregational prayers and special services. Obligatory daily prayers are usually held in smaller neighborhood mosques.
For the region’s Muslims, the mosque’s closure brings painful memories of the past. In 1819, Sikh rulers closed it for 21 years. Over the past 15 years, it has been subject to periodic bans and lockdowns by successive Indian governments. But the current restrictions are the most severe since the region was divided between India and Pakistan after the two nations gained independence from British colonialism in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety. Daily Sabah. Com
