Srinagar: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), senior All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was placed under house arrest on Friday, preventing him from attending congregational Friday prayers at the historic Jamia Masjid in Srinagar.

The authorities confined the Mirwaiz to his residence, blocking him from delivering the sermon and performing Friday prayers. He was also scheduled to launch the annual Mirwaiz Foundation Calendar, a program celebrating shared spiritual and cultural heritage, which was forcibly denied.

In a related development, the IIOJK administration reportedly pressured Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to modify his social media profile. He announced on his X account that he had removed the term 'Chairman Hurriyat Conference' from his profile after threats of account suspension. His X account has over 200,000 followers.

Mirwaiz, former chairman of the Hurriyat Conference, has faced severe restrictions since the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status in August 2019, when the Indian government banned all major Hurriyat units and sealed their headquarters in Srinagar.

Human rights observers condemned the continued curtailment of peaceful religious, cultural, and digital expression in the region, calling it 'unjust and very concerning.'