There is growing anger and anxiety among the leadership of the regional parties, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Member of Parliament (MP) Engineer Rashid and MP Aga Syed Ruhullah, over the mass arrests and demolitions of houses of families of terrorists in Kashmir in the backdrop of the Anantnag attack, which left a policeman dead two days ago. Addressing the Friday (July 24, 2026) congregation at the historic Jama Masjid Srinagar, the Mirwaiz said the past two days saw in Kashmir “large-scale detentions, questioning and harassment of youth across Kashmir, with over 2000 young men being picked up on allegations of being “over-ground workers” or OGWs”. “An act of violence by one cannot justify collective punishment for all. The killing should be investigated, and those responsible [in the Anantnag attack] should be dealt with according to law. But innocent youth and their families should not be scapegoats and made to suffer,” said the Mirwaiz. He said the reports of home demolitions of suspected militants, rendering their families homeless, “is another extrajudicial and unjust measure”. “Such measures …