SRINAGAR: Mirwaiz-e-Kashmir Molvi Umar Farooq on Friday raised alarm over the growing incidents of attacks on Kashmiris outside Jammu and Kashmir, expressing deep concern over the safety of students, traders and workers living in other parts of the country.
Addressing the Friday congregation at Jama Masjid here, the Mirwaiz strongly condemned the recent assault on 18-year-old Kashmiri shawl vendor Tabish and his brother Danish in Uttarakhand’s Vikas Nagar area, where they were allegedly beaten with iron rods, leaving them seriously injured.
He said the incident reflects a disturbing pattern of communal profiling and hostility being faced by ordinary Kashmiris outside the Union Territory. The Mirwaiz noted that similar cases of harassment and attacks on Kashmiri traders, labourers and students have recently been reported from states including Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
Highlighting that thousands of Kashmiris travel to different states during the winter months to earn their livelihood, he said such targeting of vulnerable people must stop immediately. He warned that repeated incidents increase insecurity among Kashmiri students, professionals and workers, while also causing fear and anxiety among their families back home.
The Mirwaiz urged the authorities to take the matter seriously and ensure the safety of Kashmiris residing and working outside the region.
He also expressed serious concern over the ongoing police profiling exercise in the Valley, which seeks detailed information about mosques, their management committees, imams and those associated with places of worship. Describing the move as disconcerting, he said members of the Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU) have collectively appealed to the authorities to halt the exercise.
The Mirwaiz said that during a recent visit to New Delhi following the demise of Pandit Bhushan Bazaz, he met senior Muslim leaders and ulema, including Maulana Arshad Madani and Maulana Mahmood Madani of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, and briefed them on the situation. He said the leaders expressed strong disapproval and concern over the implications of the exercise.
He further informed that the MMU would soon convene a meeting of its constituent members and senior religious leadership to deliberate on the issue and decide on a collective course of action if the profiling exercise is not stopped.
