Bukhari first leader to visit Jamia mosque in 3 decades

SRINAGAR: As the poll campaign for Srinagar Lok Sabha seat is gaining momentum, Apni Party president and former minister Altaf Bukhari on Monday visited historic Jamia Masjid in the city, becoming the first top mainstream leader to go to Kashmir’s grand mosque in over three decades.

Bukhari, who launched his political party in March 2020 after the abrogation of Article 370, visited Jamia Masjid as part of the party’s roadshow from Khanyar area in downtown Srinagar. He was accompanied by his candidate Mohammad Ashraf Mir and party workers.

Bukhari launched the roadshow in the downtown area to garner support for his candidate for the Srinagar seat going to polls in the fourth phase on May 13. His visit shows the changing times in Kashmir, where mainstream leaders used to shy away from visiting Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta area or any other downtown areas, observers say.

Jamia is considered a hub of separatists and a major stronghold of moderate Hurriyat leader and cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Mirwaiz gives Friday sermons in Jamia Masjid.

Talking to reporters after offering prayers in the mosque, Bukhari said people of J&K have followed the path of peace and “we pray for everlasting peace.” “The aim of public outreach is to make people of downtown aware that Apni Party is with you and we will try every bit to ease your sufferings and end the arrest spree. We will make an attempt to restore the pristine glory of the downtown,” he said.

In the separatists’ hub, Bukhari credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for peace in J&K. “The credit goes to the people and also to those who are at the helm of affairs at the Centre –PM and HM,” he said. Asked if it is the first election when there has been no boycott call, Bukhari said, “I think Mirwaiz was never in favour of violence. The person who sits on the pulpit of Jamia Masjid can never support violence”.

“His family has suffered violence since 1947. Mirwaiz’s family was never in support of violence. The Mirwaiz family has contributed significantly to our society over the decades,” he said. Jamia Masjid has remained the hub of separatist politics since eruption of militancy in J&K in 1990.