Kashmir's Chief Preacher Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday claimed he was placed under house arrest and prevented from offering Friday prayers at Srinagar's Jamia Masjid.
In a post on X, Farooq said, "Another Friday, placed under house arrest and prevented from going to Jama Masjid to offer obligatory prayers and deliver the sermon."
He said while the authorities gave no reason, "as usual", the timing of the house arrest, coming soon after the Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU) raised concerns over the alleged sale of pork products in Kashmir, was significant.
"Such high-handed measures only reinforce the shrinking space and the reprisal that follows for raising public or religious concerns of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Silencing people's voices through arrests and bans will neither address concerns nor prevent us from raising them," he said.
On Thursday, the MMU, an amalgam of several religious bodies in Jammu and Kashmir headed by Farooq, expressed outrage over the alleged sale of pork products on a quick-commerce platform in the Valley and urged the company to remove them immediately.
(With inputs from PTI)