Mehbooba Mufti, Mirwaiz claim house arrest to stop visit for Abdul Gani Bhat’s funeral

Srinagar, Sep 18: PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday alleged she was placed under house arrest to prevent her from visiting Sopore to offer condolences on the death of former Hurriyat Conference chairman Prof. Abdul Gani Bhat.

“The decision to place the political leadership under house arrest today, simply to stop us from visiting Sopore to offer condolences… lays bare the harsh and undemocratic reality in Jammu and Kashmir,” Mehbooba posted on X.

Bhat, a veteran separatist leader, passed away at his Sopore residence on Wednesday evening after a prolonged illness.

Mehbooba also linked the development to the recent controversy at the Hazratbal shrine, where vandalism of a plaque carrying the Ashoka emblem triggered political and religious outrage. “The eruption of spontaneous, raw public anger was not just an isolated incident. It was a loud, unmistakable message from a people pushed to the edge,” she said, accusing the BJP of “weaponising pain and unrest for political mileage.”

Meanwhile, Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also claimed he was placed under house arrest late Wednesday night, preventing him from attending Bhat’s funeral.

“It pains me beyond words that the authorities compelled the family of Prof. Sb to conclude his janazah hurriedly. I have been locked inside my home, denied the right to walk with him in his final journey,” Mirwaiz wrote on X, calling it “an unbearable cruelty.”

He recalled his 35-year-long association with Bhat as one of “friendship and guidance.”