A THAW STARTS IN SRINAGAR

After a long forced hiatus, during which Kashmir's politics was in semi-eclipse, a few developments have got everyone watching with interest. On September 22, All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq walked free after four years under house arrest and was allowed to lead the prayers at Srinagar's historic Jama Masjid.

- Moazum Mohammad

Two other clerics were freed before him, from Jammu's Kot Balwal jail. Salafist preacher Mushtaq Ahmad Veeri and Barelvi cleric Maulana Abdul Rashid Dawoodi had been booked under the Public Safety Act in September 2022 for "instigating youth". The arrest of Dawoodi, chief of the Tehreek-e-Soutul Awliya who has a huge sway in south Kashmir, was even noted by the US Commission for International Religious Freedom as one that had to do with his "religious leadership role".

It was on August 4, 2019, that the Mirwaiz-one of Kashmir's most prominent separatist faces and also its chief cleric-was detained in a pre-emptive measure. That was a day before the Centre turned Article 370 into a dead letter. This August, as he completed four years of being cooped up at his home in Srinagar's Nigeen, the Mirwaiz sent a legal notice to the government against his "illegal confinement". His counsel then filed a writ petition challenging the detention in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, which sought a government response within four weeks from September 15. However, he was released ahead of the hearing. As for Veeri and Dawoodi, the court quashed their detention on September 8, but the political mood had swung around to that already, with even the state BJP seeking their release.