Srinagar, Sept. 12 -- Kashmir's chief cleric and Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today alleged that he has been placed under house arrest by authorities ahead of the religious sitting at Srinagar's historic Jamia Masjid in old Srinagar.

Mirwaiz said that several top religious scholars were scheduled to participate in the religious gathering, but he was barred from moving out.

He accused the authorities of "relentless interference" in religious matters in Kashmir.

"Our human and political rights already stand denied, and then there is this relentless interference in our religious matters from locking us up to silencing our voice on issues ranging from the Ashoka plaque at Hazratbal to meddling with Muslim calendar holid...