KASHMIRIS HARASSED “SIMPLY BECAUSE OF THEIR IDENTITY”: KASHMIRI LEADER MIRWAIZ UMAR FAROOQ

Sat 22 November 2025:

Kashmir’s chief cleric, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, addressing the Friday congregation at Srinagar’s Jama Masjid said that the “disturbing” harassment of Kashmiris studying and working in different parts of India after the Delhi blast “simply because of their identity” must be immediately stopped, and remarked that press freedom was under attack and that the Nowgam blast was a painful and preventable tragedy.

.@MirwaizKashmir urges authorities to stop the harassment of Kashmiris across India, safeguard Press freedoms, ensure accountability for the Nowgam blast, and withdraw the anti-people 20% power tariff proposal

Srinagar, November 21, 2025: Speaking at the Friday congregation at… pic.twitter.com/4DiO8S8I4d

— Mirwaiz Manzil-Office of Mirwaiz-e-Kashmir (@mirwaizmanzil) November 21, 2025

He noted that reports of harassment of Kashmiris were “coming in from all over,” including Himachal Pradesh and other places where Kashmiris in housing colonies were being singled out and questioned “simply because of their identity.”

Mirwaiz, who is also All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman, said it was the responsibility of the authorities to ensure that people from Kashmir were not targeted in a way that put their lives at risk and that they were guaranteed safety and security.

Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also highlighted that “all Kashmiris are being looked at with suspicion” after the Delhi blast despite only “a few people” being responsible, and that a deliberate perception is being created to implicate the entire community, making it difficult for Kashmiri’s to leave for outside.

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Referring to raids on the Kashmir Times office in Jammu, Mirwaiz lamented that press freedom had become a target for authorities and said that “every dissenting voice is being seen as anti-national and a threat.”

He stressed that a free and fair media was essential for democracy and that silencing it weakened democratic values, adding that Kashmir Times carried the “great legacy of Ved Bhasin” and that such actions were “extremely unfortunate and uncalled for.”

Commenting on the Nowgam blast that killed more than nine people, Mirwaiz said it was “an extremely painful incident” and argued that the tragedy could have been avoided had the seized material been handled and stored responsibly.

He demanded that those responsible for the preventable loss must be held accountable and called for the investigation to be completed and made public soon.

Mirwaiz also criticised KPDCL’s proposal to impose a 20 per cent surcharge on electricity during peak hours, calling it “a grave injustice” at a time when people were already struggling through economic distress and declining business.

He said raising tariffs before the onset of Kashmir’s harsh winter was “heartless,” and added that instead of fulfilling the commitment of providing 200 units of free electricity to the poor, the government was adding to people’s hardships.

He urged the authorities to immediately withdraw what he termed an anti-people proposal.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has faced repeated house arrests, often to prevent him from leading Friday prayers at Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid or taking part in political activity, and these restrictions have intensified since the 2019 abrogation of Article 370.

The blast near the Red Fort metro station on November 10 left 13 people dead. Two days later, the Union government described it as a “terrorist incident”. The doctor believed to have been driving the car that exploded was identified as Umar Nabi, a resident of Kashmir.

In the immediate aftermath, there have been widespread reports of heightened suspicion, profiling and intimidation directed at Kashmiris across India, particularly students and travellers from Jammu and Kashmir. Since then, detentions and raids have continued across the Valley.

This article is republished from Maktoob Media. Read the original article.