Put under house arrest, prevented from offering Friday prayers: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq
Srinagar (PTI): Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday said he was put under house arrest and not allowed to offer the congregational prayers at the Jamia Masjid here.
The Hurriyat chief was scheduled to visit the Jamia Masjid in the Nowhatta locality of the city to offer the congregational Friday prayers. But, he claimed, he was not allowed to come out of his residence in the Nigeen area of the city.
Mirwaiz, who is Kashmir's chief cleric, delivers a sermon at the historic mosque on Fridays.
"Yet again, this Friday put under house arrest and barred from offering prayers at Jama Masjid. It's is both heartbreaking and outrageous that authorities continue to trample on my basic religious rights at their will," the Mirwaiz said in a post on X.
He also posted a copy of a resolution formulated by the Mutahida Majlis Ulema (MMU) -- an amalgam of several religious bodies -- against the Waqf Amendment Act.
"Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulama Jammu & Kashmir, expresses its concern regarding several provisions of the new law, which are being widely viewed by the Muslim community as affecting the established and religious character of the Waqf institution in India," the resolution reads.
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IAF to hold 2-day wargame along frontier with Pakistan: NOTAM issued
New Delhi, May 6 (PTI): The Indian Air Force will carry out a two-day mega military exercise along the border with Pakistan from Wednesday that will involve all the frontline fighter jets including Rafale, Su-30 and Jaguar aircraft, sources in the defence establishment said on Tuesday.
The exercise is taking place amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan over the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.
India's civil aviation authorities have already issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) for the major air exercise that will largely take place along the southern and western section of the Indo-Pakistan border.
India's frontline fighter jets including the Rafale, Su-30 MKI, MiG-29, Mirage-2000, Tejas and AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft are set to feature in the exercise, the sources said.
In the course of the exercise, the IAF will simulate enemy targets on ground and in the air with deadly precision, they said.
The militaries of both India and Pakistan are on a high alert following rising tensions between the two nations.
Soon after the Pahalgam terror attack, India, citing "cross-border linkages" to the strike, promised severe punishment to those involved in it.
In a high-level meeting with the top defence brass on April 29, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the armed forces have "complete operational freedom" to decide on the mode, targets and timing of India's response to the terror attack.
Air Chief Marshal A P Singh met Prime Minister Modi on Sunday and the Chief of Air Staff briefed him about the IAF's operational readiness.
On Saturday, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi apprised the prime minister on the overall situation in the critical sea lanes in the Arabian Sea.
