Indian police book mourners, JI members over funeral prayers in IIOJK
Srinagar: Indian police have lodged hundreds of FIRs against mourners, youth and members of Jamaat-e-Islami in Kulgam district of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir for participating in the funeral prayers of prominent Islamic scholar and former Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir, Sheikh Ghulam Hassan.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the FIRs were registered after thousands of people attended the funeral prayers and burial procession of Sheikh Ghulam Hassan in Kulgam on May 16. Witnesses said a large number of mourners, including elderly men and youth, gathered to pay their last respects to the deceased scholar despite an atmosphere of fear and intimidation created by the authorities.
The mourners assembled in the lawns of a local mosque where funeral prayers were offered before the coffin was carried in a massive procession towards the graveyard for burial. During the gathering, speakers highlighted the religious, social and educational contributions of Sheikh Ghulam Hassan and also condemned the continued crackdown launched by the BJP-led Indian government against Jamaat-e-Islami after banning the organization in 2019.
Residents said the registration of FIRs against mourners reflects the growing repression in the occupied territory where even religious gatherings and funeral ceremonies are no longer spared from police action. They said people were being criminalized merely for expressing grief, solidarity and emotions over the death of a respected religious figure.
The move is seen as part of a wider campaign aimed at silencing Islamic voices and intimidating people associated with religious and socio-political organizations in IIOJK. The Modi regime is using police cases, surveillance and arbitrary restrictions to suppress dissent and create fear among the population.
Meanwhile, Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti asked the occupation administration to stop the ‘witch hunt’ against people who expressed their emotions at the funeral of former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shaikh Ghulam Hassan. ‘People spoke out of emotion and grief at the funeral of Shaikh Ghulam Hassan who was not only the head of Jamaat but also a learned Islamic scholar. We might not like what they said, but it was not anti-India,’ Mufti told reporters in Kulgam.”
“It is unfortunate that mourners have been slapped with FIRs merely for expressing grief and emotions. I request Omar Abdullah and Manoj Sinha to stop this witch hunt,” Mufti said in a post on X.
