The central Jamia Masjid Srinagar was thrown open on Tuesday for prayers after 150 days of lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. The devotees offered Zuhr — afternoon — prayers in the Masjid for the first time after the religious places were thrown open by the administration.
The decision by Anjuman Auqaf Jama Masjid was taken while upholding the views of Shariah experts and following the guidelines issued by the medical bodies regarding the outbreak.
For the convenience of those coming for prayers, the Auqaf Jamia Masjid, reported a local news agency, Kashmir News Observer (KNO), had put in place all the SOPs and other preventive measures including providing free masks and keeping the sanitisers inside the grand masjid and putting up posters of guidelines to be followed.
Hundreds of men and women offered the congregational Zuhr prayers while maintaining social distance.
The management of the Jamia Masjid and the people interacted with several media-persons present on the occasion and demanded immediate release of the Anjuman Auqaf Jamia Masjid Chairman Mirwaiz Moulvi Muhammad Umar Farooq, who continues to be under arbitrary house arrest for more than a year now, so that he resumes the centuries-old tradition of his forefathers – the Mirwaizeen – of addressing the people from the pulpit of the Jamia Masjid.
Meanwhile, according to the Anjuman Auqaf Jama Masjid, along with the daily prayers, the congregational Friday prayers will also resume at Jama Masjid with all SOPs and other preventive measures in place—(KNO)
