Mohammad Umar Farooq (born 23 March 1973) is a hereditary Kashmiri religious and political leader who is the chairman of the Awami Action Committee and of one of the two key factions of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, a "grassroots coalition" of pro-Pakistan secessionist parties in Jammu & Kashmir.
As the Mirwaiz (Mir-Head; Waiz-Priest) of Kashmir and chairman of the Hurriyat Conference has both an important religious and political role in the Kashmir Valley.
At the age of 17, following the assassination of his father by unknown gunmen, Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq, the leader of Awami Action Committee, Umar Farooq united 23 Kashmiri Pro Pakistan organizations into the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC). He has constantly tried to raise much awareness about the Kashmir issue internationally. He was also shown among the Asian Heroes by the Times magazine. He maintains that dialogue must take place with India and Pakistan, so long as the Kashmiri aspirations are heard as well.
He inherited as the 14th Mirwaiz (Kashmiri term for traditional preacher of Muslims in Kashmir) in 1990. Before joining the pro-Pakistan Kashmir politics, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was an alumnus of the prestigious Burn Hall School in Srinagar, he had interests in computers and he wanted to become a software engineer. But fate had something else in store for this man, who became the founder-chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference at the age of 20. He also holds a PhD. in Islamic Studies from Kashmir University.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Imran Khan
On 18th December 2012, he met chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf sir Imran Khan and held a conference on Kashmir issue. Chairman PTI, Imran Khan said that his government will solve Kashmir issue. Talking to media Imran Khan said that he comes into power resolving Kashmir issue would be be his top priority.
Sub-continent is the poorest area in the world today and the problems of this region could not be resolved until Kashmir problem is resolved, Imran said.
Mirwaiz said that various political parties of Pakistan has assured complete support over Kashmir issue.
Now even India realizes that the aspirations of Kashmiris could not be crushed through power and that dialogue is the only solution of the problem.
So, Pakistan and India should talk about resolving Kashmir issue and attention should be paid to the aspirations of the leadership and people of Kashmiri, he added.