Thousands of worshippers gather to see Kashmir's top Muslim cleric and influential separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq lead Friday prayers for the first time in 218 weeks, with women showering him with sweets and religious slogans echoing around the 14th-century building. The Indian government freed Mirwaiz Umar Farooq after more than four years of house arrest. The 50-year-old was detained along with other political leaders and thousands of residents when the government cancelled the Muslim-majority region's constitutional semi-autonomy and imposed federal rule in 2019. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES