Separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar released from house arrest

Kashmirs chief priest and chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, delivers a Friday sermon inside Jamia Masjid mosque in Srinagar on March 15, 2019. Pic.AFP

Senior separatist leader and chairman of his faction of the Hurriyat conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was set free from house arrest on Thursday in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar city after 80 weeks.

Mirwaiz Umar was placed under house arrest on August 4, 2019, a day before Article 370 was abrogated and the state bifurcated into two union territories.

Sources here said Umar Farooq has been conveyed the official decision that he is free to attend all religious and social functions and also move around freely.

Sources close to the him, however, said the mobile bunker vehicle parked outside the house of the Mirwaiz in the city outskirts Nigeen area has still not been shifted.

He is now scheduled to address the Friday congregation at the historic Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta area of Srinagar city on Friday.

Traditionally, the Mirwaiz family has been delivering the Friday sermon at the Jamia Masjid which is situated in the old city of Srinagar.

The old city areas of Srinagar are believed to be the strong bastions of the Mirwaiz family as most of their supporters live in these areas.

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