Srinagar Jamia Mosque closed for Friday prayers for 20th week
Srinagar, Dec 24: Authorities on Friday stopped congregational Friday prayers at historic Jamia Masjid in Srinagar for the 20th consecutive week.
Jamia Masjid, the 14th century building, is the only major place of worship in the valley closed for congregational prayers by the authorities.
The officials did not give any reason for the continuous closure of the mosque, which was shut down initially in August 2019 in the wake of abrogation of Article 370 by the Centre.
The mosque was briefly opened in December 2019 but closed again in April as part of the government curbs on large gatherings to combat the COVID wave.
Prayers were allowed on first Friday of August this year but since then the mosque has been closed.
Anjuman Auqaf Jamia Masjid Srinagar, which manages the affairs of the mosque, expressed strong resentment over the decision.
"The Anjuman and the Muslims of Kashmir are unable to understand that on the one hand, all the places of worship, mosques, shrines, imambargahs and khanqahs in Jammu and Kashmir are open for Friday prayers, but only Jamia Masjid Srinagar continues to be selectively banned and restricted from holding Friday prayers, which is extremely unfortunate and incomprehensible," the Anjuman said in a statement.
It said the decision to close the mosque tantamount to sheer interference in religion and hurting the religious sentiments and feelings of Muslims .
This is unacceptable," it added.
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Hamas accepts cease-fire proposal for Gaza, but Israel's stance still uncertain
Jerusalem, May 6: Hamas announced Monday it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but there was no immediate word from Israel, leaving it uncertain whether a deal had been sealed to bring a halt to the seven-month-long war in Gaza.
It was the first glimmer of hope that a deal might avert further bloodshed. Hours earlier, Israel ordered some 100,000 Palestinians to begin evacuating the southern Gaza town of Rafah, signalling that an attack was imminent. The United States and other key allies of Israel oppose an offensive on Rafah, where around 1.4 million Palestinians, more than half of Gaza's population, are sheltering.
An official familiar with Israeli thinking said Israeli officials were examining the proposal, but the plan approved by Hamas was not the framework Israel proposed.
An American official also said the US was still waiting to learn more about the Hamas position and whether it reflected an agreement to what had already been signed off on by Israel and international negotiators or something else. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as a stance was still being formulated.
Details of the proposal have not been released. Touring the region last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had pressed Hamas to take the deal, and Egyptian officials said it called for a cease-fire of multiple stages starting with a limited hostage release and some Israeli troop pullbacks from Gaza. The two sides would also negotiate a “permanent calm” that would lead to a full hostage release and greater Israeli withdrawal, they said.
