Srinagar, June 13 -- Addressing the Friday congregation at Jama Masjid Srinagar, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq raised serious concerns over the continued restrictions on offering Eid prayers at historic Jama Masjid, condemned Israeli strikes on Iran, and expressed grief over the Air India crash in Ahmedabad.

"This is the first time we are meeting after the occasion of Eid," Mirwaiz said, "when we were not allowed to offer Eid prayers either at Eidgah or at Jama Masjid. Both places were locked down and I was put under house arrest. For the last seven years this action of the rulers has prevented the Muslims of Kashmir from their basic right to practise religious rites," Mirwaiz said in a statement on X.

Questioning the role of the administration, ...