Mirwaiz under house arrest, Malik detained in Srinagar

Srinagar, Oct 6: Chairman of moderate Hurriyat Conference (HC) Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq was placed under house arrest, while separate leader Mohammad Yaseen Malik was detained on Friday morning to prevent them from holding protests against braid chopping incidents. Meanwhile, there was no relief for hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who remained under house arrest since May last year. “Security forces and state police personnel were deployed outside Mirwaiz's residence in Nigeen early this morning and he was asked not to leave the house till further orders,” a Hurriyat spokesman told UNI. A JKLF spokesperson said Malik was taken into custody from his Maisuma residence to prevent him from joining a protest march after Friday prayers against braid chopping incidents in the state. He said a police party raided the house of Malik and later took him into custody this morning. A spokesperson for Hurriyat told UNI that Geelani remained under house arrest since May last year when he returned from New Delhi. “A large number of security forces and state police personnel remained deployed outside the Hyderpora residence of Mr Geelani, who was not even allowed to offer Friday prayers in a mosque since restrictions were imposed on him,” he added. Both the factions of Hurriyat Conference and JKLF, in a joint statement on Thursday, had urged people to hold protests after Friday prayers against braid chopping incidents in Kashmir, where so far over 40 such cases have been reported. The separatists have also given a call for a ‘mega rally’ in Polo Ground in Srinagar on October 14 against braid chopping incidents and ‘anti-Kashmiri’ policies. UNI