Masked youth storms historic Jamia Masjid in Srinagar, unfurls ISIS flag
Srinagar, Dec 29 (IBNS): In a shocking incident, some masked youth stormed historic Jamia Masjid in Kashmir and unfurled terrorist group Islamic State's flag and even briefly occupied the pulpit after Friday prayers.
A video footage of the incident has already gone viral on social media.
Shouting slogans 'Daulat-ul-Islam'(Islamic State), some hooded youth entered the mosque after Friday prayers and one of them even climbed the pulpit used by Moderate Hurriyat Conference leader and chief cleric of Jamia Masjid, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to deliver sermons.
The youth waved the ISIS flag and even sat down on the wooden pulpit.
In a video that has gone viral on internet, a person could be seen attempting to snatch the flag and bring the youth down from the pulpit.
The incident occurred after Moderate Hurriyat chairman and chief cleric of Kashmir Mirwaiz Umar Farooq left the mosque.
He was present in the mosque to deliver his Friday sermon.
Anjuman Auqaf Jamia Masjid, caretakers of the mosque, condemned the incident.
“A group of masked boys entered the mosque and rushed to the pulpit. One of them stood atop the pulpit with his shoes on, screaming slogans and creating ruckus. In the meantime, his associates videotaped it and and put it on social media. This clearly indicates that this incident was deliberate and planned,” a spokesman of Anjuman was quoted as saying by DNA.
Deputy Inspector General of Police, Central Kashmir Range, Vidhi Kumar Birdi told DNA that they are looking into matter and scanning the videos.
Mirwaiz and ISIS:
Mirwaiz, meanwhile, has always denounced the ISIS ideology.
In a statement as reported by The Kashmir Walla in 2016, Mirwaiz had said: “Groups like ISIS, who are promoting terrorism in the name of Islam, in reality have no regard for Islamic teachings and values.”
Similar attempt in the past:
According to media reports, some masked youth carrying a black ISIS flag had appeared in the Jama Masjid area after the Friday prayers in June 2015.
Image: Youtube grab
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.