ibn sultan
Srinagar, Jan 30 : Expressing serious concern over attacks on Kashmiris outside Jammu and Kashmir, moderate separatist leader and chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday urged authorities to ensure their safety across the country.
Addressing the Friday congregation at Jamia Masjid, the Mirwaiz voiced deep anguish over the recent “brutal assault” on 18-year-old Kashmiri shawl vendor Tabish and his brother Danish in Uttarakhand’s Vikas Nagar area, where they were allegedly attacked with iron rods and sustained grievous injuries.
He said the incident highlighted a “disturbing pattern of communal profiling and hostility” faced by ordinary Kashmiris outside the Union Territory. Referring to similar reports from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and other states, the Mirwaiz noted that Kashmiri traders, labourers and students have increasingly been subjected to harassment and violence.
Pointing out that thousands of Kashmiris travel to different parts of the country during winter to earn an honest livelihood, he said such “targeting of vulnerable people must stop immediately.”
The Mirwaiz also described as “very disconcerting” the reported seeking of information about mosques, their management committees, imams and individuals associated with places of worship. He said members of the Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema have expressed grave concern and asked authorities to put an end to such actions.
He added that the MMU, an amalgam of several religious bodies in Jammu and Kashmir, will soon convene a meeting of its constituent members and senior religious leadership to deliberate on the issue and decide a collective course of action.
