Amid crackdown on separatists, Mirwaiz drops Hurriyat chairman title from social media

Chief cleric and soft separatist Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has removed the designation “All Parties Hurriyat Conference Chairman” from his social media profiles. The move comes amid intensified action by security agencies against terror sympathisers and separatist elements.

In recent times, security agencies have revived decades-old cases across the Kashmir region. With the arrest of former terrorists such as Shakil Bakshi and Javed Mir, and also attaching the Properties belonging to known separatist sympathisers, including former Bar Association president Advocate Mian Qayoom and US-based Ghulam Nabi Fai.

The Hurriyat Conference, formed in 1993 as an umbrella body of separatist groups advocating either Kashmir’s independence or its accession to Pakistan, was outlawed in 2019 for promoting secessionism and maintaining links with terrorism. The ban led to the arrest of several leaders, while others were compelled to fall in line with the law.

Mirwaiz, who spent much of the post-2019 period under house detention, has intermittently advocated dialogue. His public distancing from separatist symbolism, however, reflects the cumulative impact of sustained enforcement measures. Security analysts interpret this shift as evidence of increasing institutional pressure and a gradual consolidation of mainstreaming efforts in the Union Territory.