Srinagar: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chief cleric of Kashmir, removed the title “Chairman, All Parties Hurriyat Conference” from his verified X (formerly Twitter) account on Thursday evening.
The removal of the title from Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s X bio was revealed through social media chatter last evening.
In a post shared on Friday morning, Mirwaiz revealed that he had been facing pressure from authorities to make changes to his social media profile, as all constituent factions of the Hurriyat Conference, including the Awami Action Committee (AAC) that he heads, have been banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
“For some time now, I was being pressed by the authorities to make changes to my X (formerly Twitter) handle as Hurriyat chairman, since all constituent factions of the Hurriyat Conference, including the Awami Action Committee that I head, have been banned under the UAPA, making Hurriyat a banned organisation. Failing which, they threatened to take down my handle,” the tweet reads.
He said the X platform remains among the very few means available to him to reach out to his people.
“At a time when public space and avenues of communication stand severely restricted, this platform remains among the very few means available to me to reach out to my people and share my views on our issues with them and with the outside world. Under such circumstances, it was a Hobson’s choice I was left to make,” he said.
Mirwaiz’s move reflects the decline in the influence of separatists in Kashmir, who were once calling the shots and dictating politics in the region.
