Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
| Photograph Credit score: NISSAR AHMAD
Hurriyat chairman and the Kashmir Valley’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq “is a free man”, the J&Okay Lieutenant-Governor’s administration informed the Jammu and Kashmir Excessive Court docket on Wednesday.
“The petitioner [Mirwaiz] has alleged that he has been detained in his home, as police and vehicular deployment has been made exterior his home. This assertion of the petitioner is totally false and much from information, because the petitioner is a free man, who on and off visits medical doctors, relations, and attends different spiritual actions at his will,” senior Extra Advocate Common Mohsin Qadri informed the courtroom.
Mr. Qadri countered the allegations levelled by the Mirwaiz that safety forces deploy automobiles exterior his residence gate in Srinagar’s Nigeen space as being “purely for security”. “It’s purely for security and safety function, and as a safety measure, in order to foil any try of anti-national components,” he stated.
The L-G administration, in its reply, listed the dates from February 6, 2023, when the Mirwaiz ventured out of his residence to attend marriage ceremonies and meet relations. It additionally talked about three Fridays when the Mirwaiz attended Friday prayers on the historic Jamia Masjid in Srinagar in September, 2023. The Mirwaiz has attended the Friday prayers solely on three events since 2019.
“The petitioner is a free man, and at any time when he needs to go wherever, he’s being offered correct safety preparations for his personal security and safety,” Mr. Qadri informed the courtroom.
The reply additionally talked about the assassination of the Mirwaiz’s father, Maulana Muhammad Farooq, in 1990. “Mr. Farooq, who was a distinguished spiritual chief of Kashmir, was focused and killed by terrorists. Due to this fact, the protection and safety of the petitioner can’t be undermined, as he’s additionally a distinguished spiritual determine like his father,” the reply stated.
It stated the Mirwaiz’s residence was positioned at “a really delicate and (with) strategic factors, as College of Kashmir, Nationwide Institute of Expertise, Dargah Shrine and Nigeen Membership can be positioned within the neighborhood”.
“The neighborhood is dominated [by security forces] as a safety measure to keep away from any terrorist exercise,” Mr. Qadri stated.
He sought the dismissal of the Mirwaiz’s petition, as “he’s neither confined nor detained at his home”.
“There was no violation or infringement of the rights of the petitioner, who has projected a false and concocted story earlier than the courtroom,” the reply stated.
The Mirwaiz, in a petition filed in September, 2023, had informed the courtroom in Srinagar that he was detained, “as a big contingent of police forces and automobiles have been deployed exterior, on each side of the residence which has made his life depressing”.
“Resulting from misinformation propagated, the Mirwaiz feels he has no different treatment than to method this courtroom for looking for applicable authorized and constitutional treatment for the redressal of his grievances,” the Mirwaiz’s petition reads.
The Mirwaiz informed the courtroom that he had remained below home arrest for greater than 4 lengthy years, and his spiritual rights had been being violated. His petition acknowledged: “He (The Mirwaiz) has suffered an unlawful confinement in a most unjustified and unlawful method which quantities to misuse of energy and authority.”
The J&Okay courtroom, which couldn’t hear the case on Wednesday, is prone to move instructions within the subsequent listening to.
