J&K: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq released from house arrest after 4 yrs
Srinagar (PTI): Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was released from house arrest on Friday, four years after he was taken into detention in the wake of abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution in August 2019, officials said here.
The Mirwaiz will be allowed to take part in the Friday congregational prayers at the historic Jamia Masjid in the Nowhatta area here, the officials from the Anjuman Auqaf Jamia Masjid -- the management committee of the mosque -- said.
"Senior police officials visited the residence of the Mirwaiz on Thursday to inform him that the authorities have decided to release him from house detention and allow him to go to Jamia Masjid for Friday prayers," the Auqaf said in a statement.
The release of the Mirwaiz, who heads various religious organisations and is the chairman of the separatist Hurriyat Conference, comes days after he moved the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
The court, on September 15, gave four weeks' time to the Jammu and Kashmir administration to file its response to the Mirwaiz's petition.
The Hurriyat leader was put under house arrest at his Nigeen residence on August 5, 2019 -- the day the BJP-led Centre abrogated the provisions of Article 370 and bifurcated the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into Union territories.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
