In Kashmir, closed mosque belies India’s religious freedom

2 years ago 403

SRINAGAR – Jamia Masjid, the expansive mosque of Srinagar, dominates its vicinity with an imposing main gross and monolithic turrets. It tin clasp 33,000 worshippers, and connected peculiar occasions implicit the years hundreds of thousands of Muslims person filled adjacent lanes and roads to connection prayers led from the mosque.

But Indian authorities spot the mosque arsenic a occupation spot — a nervus halfway for protests and clashes that situation India's sovereignty implicit the disputed Kashmir region.

For Kashmiri Muslims it is simply a ineffable venue for Friday prayers and a spot they tin rise their voices for governmental rights.

In this bitter dispute, the mosque successful Kashmir’s main metropolis has mostly remained closed for the past 2 years. The mosque’s main clergyman has been detained successful his location astir nonstop passim that time, and the mosque’s main gross is padlocked and blocked with corrugated tin sheets connected Fridays.

The closure of the mosque, which is revered by Kashmir’s mostly Muslim population, has deepened their anger.

“There is simply a changeless feeling that thing is missing successful my life,” said Bashir Ahmed, 65, a retired authorities worker who has offered prayers astatine the mosque implicit 5 decades.

Indian authorities refused to remark connected the mosque restrictions contempt repeated queries from The Associated Press. In the past, officials person said the authorities was forced to adjacent the mosque due to the fact that its absorption committee was incapable to halt anti-India protests connected the premises.

The shutting of the 600-year-old mosque came amid a clampdown that began successful 2019 aft the authorities stripped Kashmir of its long-held semiautonomous status.

In the past 2 years, immoderate of the region’s different mosques and shrines — besides closed for months owed to the information crackdown and the consequent pandemic — person been allowed to connection spiritual services.

Jamia Masjid has remained retired of bounds to worshippers for prayers connected Friday – the main time of congregational worship successful Islam. Authorities let the mosque to stay unfastened the different six days, but lone a fewer 100 worshippers assemble determination connected those occasions, compared to the tens of thousands that often gathered connected Fridays.

“This is the cardinal mosque wherever our ancestors, scholars and spiritual masters person prayed and meditated for centuries,” said Altaf Ahmad Bhat, 1 of the officials astatine the expansive mosque.

He dismissed the law-and-order reasons cited by the authorities arsenic “absurd,” adding that discussions astir social, economical and governmental issues affecting Muslims were a halfway spiritual relation of immoderate expansive mosque.

The expansive mosque is chiefly reserved for mandatory Friday congregational prayers and peculiar services. Obligatory regular prayers are usually held successful smaller vicinity mosques.

For the region’s Muslims, the mosque’s closure brings achy memories of the past. In 1819, Sikh rulers closed it for 21 years. Over the past 15 years, it has been taxable to periodic bans and lockdowns by successive Indian governments.

But the existent restrictions are the astir terrible since the portion was divided betwixt India and Pakistan aft the 2 nations gained independency from British colonialism successful 1947. Both assertion the Himalayan territory successful its entirety.

The Indian authorities initially grappled with mostly peaceful nationalist protests seeking a agreed Kashmir, either nether Pakistani regularisation oregon arsenic an autarkic entity. But a crackdown connected dissent led to Kashmir’s eruption into an equipped rebellion against India successful 1989. India has depicted the insurgency arsenic Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, a complaint Pakistan has denied.

Indian forces mostly crushed the rebellion astir 10 years ago, though fashionable demands for “Azadi,” oregon freedom, remained ingrained successful the Kashmiri psyche.

The portion made a modulation from the equipped conflict to unarmed uprisings, with tens of thousands of civilians repeatedly taking to the streets to protestation Indian rule, often starring to deadly clashes betwixt stone-throwing residents and Indian troops. The expansive mosque and its surrounding areas successful Srinagar’s bosom emerged arsenic cardinal to these protests.

Sermons astatine the Jamia Masjid would often code the long-simmering conflict, with Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the main clergyman and 1 of the region’s apical separatist leaders, giving fiery speeches highlighting Kashmir’s governmental struggle.

Authorities often clamped down, banning prayers astatine the mosque for extended periods. According to authoritative data, the mosque was closed for astatine slightest 250 days successful 2008, 2010 and 2016 combined.

The equipped struggle again intensified aft Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to powerfulness successful 2014 and won a landslide re-election successful 2019. Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party-led authorities toughened its stance some against Pakistan and Kashmiri separatists amid rising attacks by Hindu hard-liners against minorities successful India, further deepening frustrations among Kashmir’s Muslims.

Soon a caller question of rebels revived Kashmir’s militancy and challenged India’s regularisation with guns and effectual usage of societal media. India responded with sometimes deadly counterinsurgency operations.

Freedom of religion is enshrined successful India’s constitution, allowing citizens to travel and freely signifier religion. The constitution besides says the authorities volition not “discriminate, patronize oregon meddle successful the assemblage of immoderate religion.”

But adjacent earlier the existent information cognition successful Kashmir, experts accidental conditions for India’s Muslims nether Modi person worsened.

In Kashmir, the clampdown connected the astir revered mosque has aggravated these fears.

“Jamia Masjid represents the psyche of Kashmiri Muslims’ religion and has remained astatine the halfway of demands for societal and governmental rights since its instauration immoderate six centuries back,” said Zareef Ahmed Zareef, a writer and an oral historian. “Its closure is an onslaught connected our faith.”

On peculiar occasions similar the past Friday successful the fasting period of Ramadan, hundreds of thousands of faithful commune successful the mosque, filling its neighborhood's winding lanes and roads.

For the past 2 years, specified scenes person remained missing. Muslims accidental the gag is undermining their law close to spiritual freedom.

Ahmed, the worshipper, connected a caller Saturday day sat wrong the mosque, a wood and ceramic architectural marvel with 378 woody pillars. He said helium has ne'er seen the mosque unopen and desolate for specified an extended period.

“I consciousness deprived and violated,” Ahmed said arsenic helium raised his hands successful supplication. “We person been subjected to utmost spiritual suffering.”

Many Kashmiri Muslims person agelong said New Delhi curbs their spiritual state connected the pretext of instrumentality and bid portion promoting and patronizing the yearly Hindu pilgrimage to an icy Himalayan cave visited by hundreds of thousands of Hindus from crossed India.

The Amarnath pilgrimage lasts for astir 2 months, though it was canceled for the past 2 years owed to the pandemic.

On a caller Friday, arsenic the mosque remained closed, its sprawling marketplace, an different vibrant and bustling neighborhood, wore a deserted look.

Babull, a mentally challenged antheral successful his 40s who inhabits the spot successful and astir the expansive mosque, whirled astir the neighborhood. He cautioned shopkeepers of imminent information from constabulary raiding the place, arsenic they person done successful the past.

Nearby, a gaggle of Indian tourists went astir clicking selfies successful the backdrop of the mosque’s barricaded and locked main gate.

Kashmiri onlookers watched them successful silence.

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Follow Aijaz Hussain connected Twitter astatine twitter.com/hussain_aijaz

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Associated Press religion sum receives enactment from the Lilly Endowment done The Conversation U.S. The AP is solely liable for this content.

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