SRINAGAR: Kashmir’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Tuesday said that he was placed under house arrest after authorities allegedly denied him permission to visit Budgam to offer condolences to the family of a 12-year-old girl who died in what he described as a “brutal and shocking incident”.
In a post on X, the Mirwaiz said he had planned to travel to Budgam to express solidarity with the bereaved family but was stopped by the authorities.
“Placed under house arrest early morning today after being denied permission to visit Budgam (all my visits are subject to permission by authorities, who are to be informed a day earlier) to offer condolences and share in the grief of the bereaved family who lost their 12 year old girl child in a brutal and shocking incident,” he wrote.
The Mirwaiz further said that even a humanitarian gesture of expressing sympathy was being viewed with suspicion by the authorities.
“It is strange that even a basic humanitarian gesture of expressing sympathy and condolence with the bereaved threatens the rulers and their narrative of ‘peace and normalcy’,” he said in the post.
There was no immediate official response from the administration or police regarding the claim of house arrest.
