The Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday decided not to allow congregational prayers at Srinagar’s historic Jamia Masjid on the occasion of Shab-e-Qadr and Jumat-ul-Vida – two days of importance in Islam in the holy month of Ramzan, The Indian Express reported.

“It has been conveyed that the Jumat-ul-Vida [prayers on the last Friday of Ramzan] and Shab-e-Qadr [night-long prayers on the 27th night of Ramzan] would not be allowed at the grand mosque,” said Altaf Ahmad Bhat, secretary of the Jamia Masjid administration.

Thousands of Muslim devotees in the Valley gather at Jamia Masjid to offer prayers during the holy month of Ramzan. The mosque has been shut for on multiple occasions since August 2019, when the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special Constitutional status. It remained closed due to the coronavirus restrictions too, and was finally reopened in March.

Unidentified police officials told The Indian Express that the decision to not allow prayers was made to prevent protests demanding an independent Kashmir.

“Traditionally, it is a huge congregation and it can easily spiral into an Azadi protest,” a police official said. “It would be difficult for us to manage such a huge congregation.”

On April 9, 13 persons were arrested for shouting allegedly anti-national slogans inside the mosque during Friday prayers.

The People’s Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration, a political alliance of regional parties in Jammu and Kashmir, has urged the administration to reconsider the decision.

“The move is unacceptable and reprehensible,” said MY Tarigami, spokesperson for the People’s Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration, The Hindu reported. “It will bar thousands of people from offering the congregational prayers inside the historic mosque. It amounts to direct interference in the people’s religious matters.”

Former Chief Minister and National Conference Vice-President Omar Abdullah also questioned the move.

“If the government claims the situation is normal, then why the prayers have been disallowed at the historic Jamia Masjid?” he said. “The government, if not by its words but by its action, is proving that the situation [in Kashmir] is too far from normal.”

Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who is under house detention since August 2019, asked the authorities to revoke the ban.

“The government’s move is outrageous and against the fundamental human right to religious practice,” he was quoted as saying, The Hindu reported. “The central Jamia mosque would see people in lakhs offering prayers on these occasions. Such orders are against Muslims.”