Srinagar: Authorities on Wednesday (May 27) disallowed the congregational Eid prayers at the Eidgah grounds and Jamia Masjid in Jammu and Kashmir’s capital Srinagar city without specifying any reason in writing.In a statement, Kashmir’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said that he has been put under house arrest while the authorities disallowed the congregational prayers at the two venues for the eight consecutive year. Denouncing the curbs, Mirwaiz shared some images on his X handle showing heavy security deployment outside his residence in Srinagar’s Nigeen locality and Jamia Masjid, Kashmir’s biggest mosque which is located in the heart of old Srinagar city. “On the revered and celebratory occasion of Eid, Muslims of Kashmir are greeted with barricades, restrictions, locked gates and intimidation. This is not governance; it is a systematic assault on our religious identity, dignity and fundamental rights which deeply hurts us,” he said in a post on X. For the 8th consecutive year, Muslims of Kashmiris have been denied the right to offer Eid prayers at the historic Eidgah/Jama Masjid, and I have been placed under house arrest. On the revered and celebratory occasion of Eid , Muslims of Kashmir are greeted with barricades,… pic.twitter.com/m2NgXGlLyS— Mirwaiz Umar Farooq (@MirwaizKashmir) May 27, 2026Mirwaiz said that it was “unfortunate that children in Kashmir are growing up without witnessing the spiritually uplifting Eid prayers at Eidgah and the festivities thereof”. “An entire generation is being deprived of knowing their traditions and making memories that have shaped our collective life for centuries. But let those in power know that no power on earth can erase the deep spiritual bond people of Kashmir share with Eidgah, Jama Masjid and their religious institutions. Faith cannot be imprisoned or suppressed through force,” he said. The chief cleric of Kashmir had announced earlier this week that he would lead the Eid prayers at Eidgah grounds which used to witness the largest congregational Eid prayers when Jammu and Kashmir was a state.This is not the first time that the Eidgah ground as well as the 14th century architectural marvel in Nowhatta locality of downtown Srinagar have been closed for worshippers without any official order.Following the reading down of Article 370 in 2019, the J&K administration has kept both the venues out of bounds for worshippers on Eid and other important religious occasions. The security administration in Jammu and Kashmir which is under the Union Home Ministry has unofficially cited the apprehensions of law and order breakdown in the sensitive downtown locality, a former epicentre of anti-India and pro-freedom protests, to justify the ban on congregational prayers.Meanwhile, Eid prayers were held in the rest of the Union territory with thousands of people congregating in all the major shrines and mosques, including at the Asar-e-Sharief in Hazratbal of Srinagar, Khanqah-e-Moula in Budgam district’s Chrari Sharief and other mosques and religious places to mark the occasion. In the neighbouring Ladakh, Eid is going to be celebrated on Thursday (May 28). Earlier, Mirwaiz was put under house arrest on Tuesday (May 26) allegedly to prevent him from visiting the family of a 12-year-old girl who was murdered in Budgam district last week. He had said that he was denied permission by the administration to “offer condolences and share in the grief (sic) of the bereaved family” in Galwanpora village of Budgam.The body of the girl child was recovered by the family and police on May 23 barely some 200 metres from her residence following an overnight search operation and a local youth identified as Mudasir Ahmad Mir was arrested in connection with the case within 36 hours. “It is strange that even a basic humanitarian gesture of expressing sympathy and condolence with the bereaved threatens the rulers and their narrative of ‘peace and normalcy’,” Mirwaiz had said on X.