Kashmir shift: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq ditches ‘Hurriyat’ leadership title amid crackdown

Srinagar: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chief Kashmiri cleric and moderate separatist leader, has removed the title of "Chairman All Parties Hurriyat Conference" from his verified social media profile on X, formerly Twitter.

The change to his account, which has more than 200,000 followers, was observed on Thursday evening. The updated biography now lists only his name alongside basic geographical information. Mirwaiz was not immediately available to provide a statement regarding the modification.

The move coincides with the continued legal and political pressure on separatist organisations in the region. Mirwaiz’s own group, the Awami Action Committee, remains under a ban imposed by the central government through stringent anti-terrorism legislation.

The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) was established in 1993 as a powerful umbrella organisation comprising various separatist factions in Jammu and Kashmir. For decades, it served as the primary vehicle for coordinating large-scale protests and political strikes across the valley. However, the conglomerate's influence has faded significantly over the last ten years, weakened by internal rivalries and a sustained crackdown by federal authorities.

Following the 2019 abrogation of Article 370, which revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special constitutional status, the central government banned many of the APHC’s constituent members. A majority of the senior leadership has since been detained, faced criminal charges under national security laws, or opted to withdraw entirely from public political life.

With inputs from PTI