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Srinagar: PDP chief Mehbooba meets Mirwaiz
The meeting between Mehbooba and the Mirwaiz comes days after the two publicly found common ground over the proposed “Tantra in Silence” retreat in north Kashmir’s Gurez valley over a week ago
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In a significant development, People’s Democratic Party president and former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti called on chief cleric of grand mosque Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to discuss various ‘societal issues’ prevalent in Jammu and Kashmir.
The meeting between Mehbooba and the Mirwaiz comes days after the two publicly found common ground over the proposed “Tantra in Silence” retreat in north Kashmir’s Gurez valley over a week ago. After the backlash, the administration informed that no official permission or authorisation was granted for the event.
PDP sources said that Mehbooba expressed her desire to meet Mirwaiz after both the had expressed their displeasure publicly over the Tantra event. “It was a normal meeting with discussions on societal issues. There was nothing political in it,” one of the PDP leaders said.
On reaching out to Mirwaiz for details of the meeting, the PDP leader said that the two talked over various issues like Tantra event and about various social issues in society. “The discussion ranged from extravaganza in marriages and high divorce rates besides the need for preserving language and culture,” he said.
He said that Mehbooba urged the religious scholars to intervene over these issues in the society.
On September 19, Mehbooba had taken to X to express her concern over a poster advertising “Tantra Silence” retreat in Gurez Valley, Srinagar.
“A similar “Tantra” retreat facilitated by Swami Dhyan Sumit, a self-styled godman promoting a new religion under the Shree Rajneesh Foundation, was cancelled in Goa last year after its obscene promotional material sparked widespread controversy, and Goa Police had to intervene. Gurez is no playground for experiments in the name of spirituality or tourism. I request @CM_JnK and @JmuKmrpolice to intervene immediately and take appropriate action. I also appeal to @MirwaizKashmir and @office_mufti to raise awareness about this issue,” Mufti said on X while tagging Mirwaiz as well as CM Omar Abdullah.
Mirwaiz immediately responded saying, “The concern raised by @MehboobaMufti deserves immediate attention! That this kind of program is being allowed in Gurez in Kashmir, when a similar programme by this organisation was cancelled by police in Goa, due to public outrage over its obscene promotional details, is outrageous!”
“Kashmir is the land of sufis and saints. Here spirituality is experienced, not marketed at a cost! Besides, tourism promotion cannot become an excuse to undermine our religious, cultural and social ethos and ignoring our values and sensibilities. The concerned authorities @CM_JnK,@omarabdullah should immediately take note and stop this exploitation!,” the post on X said.
Mirwaiz was the chairman of his faction of Hurriyat Conference before he dropped the title in his public communications including on X, in December 2025 calling it a “Hobson’s choice” owing to alleged pressure from authorities.
