SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has taken action on a petition filed by Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who has been under house arrest since August 2019. Farooq’s lawyer, Nazir Ahmad Ronga, confirmed that the court has given the union territory administration four weeks to respond.
In the writ petition submitted to the high court, the separatist leader seeks “an order or direction upon the respondents (state authorities) to release the petitioner (Mirwaiz) from ‘illegal and unauthorised detention’ as the petitioner has been detained/house arrested at his Nigeen residence without any order or authority in law.”
Additionally, the petition calls upon the high court to issue an appropriate writ or order instructing the administration to “lift the siege outside” the separatist leader’s house in Nigeen Hazratbal.
It also requests that Mirwaiz be allowed to conduct his Friday sermons and lead the Friday religious prayers at Jamia Masjid, Nowhatta Srinagar. The petition further emphasises the removal of any obstacles to Mirwaiz’s daily life, including his freedom of movement as a citizen, and the restoration of his rights and liberties guaranteed under the Constitution.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has been under house arrest since August 2, 2019, a day before the central government revoked the special status of the Jammu and Kashmir State and reorganized it into two union territories.
