Srinagar, Feb 21: The Centre has increased the security cover for Hurriyat chairman and Kashmir chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq after a review of the threat perception, which heightened following his recent visit to New Delhi.
During the visit, he submitted a memorandum to the joint parliamentary committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill and met with a Kashmiri Pandit group.
Sources in the security establishment, while confirming the increase in his protection, said that CRPF men trained in close protection have been assigned to him. “Yes, CRPF personnel have been placed in his security detail,” a police source confirmed.
Mirwaiz was today allowed to lead the Friday congregational prayers at the historic Jamia Masjid in the heart of the old city in Srinagar, where he was seen with tight security cover, including the CRPF men. “He was under tight security cover today. There were multiple security personnel behind him while he delivered the Friday sermon,” a journalist who was at the grand mosque told News18.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police conducted an assessment of the threats generated online following his Delhi visit and his engagements there.
On his first visit to New Delhi after the abrogation of Article 370 sections and bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, along with other religious leaders, had submitted a memorandum to the JPC as the head of Mutahida Majlis-E-Ulema and had voiced strong opposition to the proposed amendments to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
When he was in New Delhi, he also engaged with Kashmiri Pandits, where he called for their return to the valley while acknowledging the “painful exodus”. Mirwaiz also announced the formation of an inter-community committee to facilitate the safe return of Kashmiri Pandits, promote economic development, and preserve Kashmir’s composite cultural heritage.
In 2017, his security cover was downgraded, which was later withdrawn in 2019. His father, Mirwaiz Farooq, who was also the chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Awami Action Committee, was assassinated by Hizb-ul-Mujahideen at his residence in Nageen, Srinagar, on May 21, 1990. Last year, police said they had arrested two Hizb militants involved in the killing of Mirwaiz Farooq.–(News18)
