Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday, June 26, 2026, joins the Ashura processions at Zadibal in downtown Srinagar.
| Photo Credit: Imran Nissar
Muharram processions were held across the Kashmir valley on Friday (June 26, 2026) to mark ‘Ashura’. The solemn day commemorates the martyrdom of Hussain – the grandson of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad – who was killed in the Battle of Karbala in the 7th century. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah joined the mourners. Shia mourners assembled early in the morning at Srinagar’s Gulshan Bagh in Botakadal area and took part in the processions leading up to Zadibal in the old city. The mourners marched through the streets as they wailed and performed chest beating in a show of grief and recited ‘marsiya’ (elegy). Major processions were also held in parts of Budgam, Baramulla, Bandipora, Pulwama and Anantnag.In Srinagar, black banners with Islamic slogans and pictures of the assassinated Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his son and current Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei were erected across the old city. The religious processions, attended by women and children, were carried out under multi-tier security. The police had issued an advisory against hoisting of flags with provocative slogans, texts, photographs of terrorists or logos of banned organisations and against raising anti-India or anti-administration slogans.
