SRINAGAR: Offering Eid prayers for the first time post-Covid19, huge gatherings were reported to mosques within and outside Srinagar. Barring Jamia Masjid, the Eid congregations were reported from every other mosque.
The major gathering was reported from Dargah Hazratbal, where an estimated 80,000 faithful offered prayers. The prayers took place in spite of rains and speedy winds that led to the quick plummeting of the temperature. The downpour prevented people from offering prayers in the open, as is the case on Eids.
However, no Eid prayers took place in the fourteenth century Jamia Masjid, the grand old mosque that is rooted in Kashmir’s transition to Islam. Authorities had prevented the congregations on Shab-e-Qadr and Jumat-ul-Vida, the last of the four Fridays of Ramzan.
Jamia management said the authorities put “unreasonable conditions” for permitting the prayers. It included ensuring that there will not be any kind of tension involving law and order and the prayers will take place as early as 7 am. The management refused to accede to these conditions as a result of which no prayers took place. Reports from Nowhatta said the mixed contingents of police and CRPF were deployed in the area. However, it remained peaceful.
Meanwhile, India Today reported a minor clash between some people and the law enforcement agencies in Anantnag. It happened after the prayers were over. It said the police termed the incident “minor” and a result of “some kind of misunderstanding.”
