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Updated: Mar 12, 2019 22:44 IST

A day after Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference, refused to appear before the National Investigation Agency in Delhi in connection with a probe into alleged terror funding, Kashmiri groups on Tuesday described the summons sent to him as interference in the region’s religious affairs.

Mutahida Majlis Ulema, a body of religious scholars headed by Farooq, held a convention against the NIA summons to Mirwaiz and a ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami, and called for a protest shutdown on Saturday.

Farooq is chief cleric of Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid, where he delivers weekly sermons.