Srinagar: MLA Langate, Engineer Rashid on Friday said that despite the attack on Yatris on July 10, the yatra goes interrupted while the Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta area of Downtown Srinagar is still stealed.
“Despite the (Anantnag) attack, the Yatra goes uninterrupted but Jamia Masjid is still sealed,” Rashid said.
Seven Amarnath pilgrims were killed and 19 others were injured, after a suspected militant attack on the government forces in Batengoo, a village between Khanbal and Bejbehara, an area of Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Accusing police and civil administration of becoming ‘Over Ground Workers (OGWs) of Sangh Parivar and other anti-Kashmir forces’, Rashid has condemned the Government of India for barring Friday prayers in the Jamia Masjid Srinagar for the second consecutive week.
Authorities have disallowed congregational Friday prayers at the Jamia Masjid in downtown Srinagar for the fourth consecutive week.
According to reports, all gates of Jamia Masjid were locked by government forces while all roads leading to the historic mosque were blocked with concertina wires.
In a statement issued today, Rashid said “It is strange that the Government of India is doing everything to facilitate Amarnath Yatra and ensure their safe journey but state subjects are being deprived of their religious rights. While, the government itself claims that Yatra is under the threat of militants but still makes it uninterrupted for weeks to gather, it is shameful that it can’t ensure Friday prayers which take hardly an hour or so to complete, despite there being no threat against devotees”.
Rashid added “The Government has been more than cruel not only to common Kashmiris but to elderly (Syed Ali Shah) Geelani and spiritual and religious leader Mir Waiz Omar Farooq by curbing their fundamental and religious freedom.”
Expressing skepticism at the initiative of J&K police to launch a probe into the Amarnath Yatri Attack, Rashid “rejected constituting of Special investigating Team (SIT) by J&K Police, for the reason that the security agencies are themselves under the clout of doubt over the incident.”
“It would have been proper to investigate the incident through some credible international agency, but New Delhi will never allow that as it has nothing to defend,” he further added.
The Indian Armed Forces on Wednesday launched a massive hunt to track down Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander and Pakistani national Abu Ismail, the alleged mastermind of the deadly attack on Amarnath pilgrims.
“However,” he added, “if it (New Delhi) could use National Investigation Agency (NIA) to humiliate resistance leaders for political ambitions, for the sake of investigation it should have handed over the investigation to NIA.”