A report released by Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre (RISISC) Jordan has for the fifth consecutive year put Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman Mirwaiz Muhammad Umar Farooq among the 500 most influential Muslim personalities across the globe and one among the five top most influential persons in the sub-continent.
“The Muslim 500, ” annual report released by RISISC-Jordan states: “Dr Farooq inherited the title of the 14th Mirwaiz, (traditional preacher of Muslims in Kashmir) in 1990 after the martyrdom of his father.
At the young age of twenty, he became the chairman and founder of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, a grassroots coalition of pro-freedom parties in J&K. He has raised the Kashmir problem at the United Nations, European Parliament and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), advocating dialogue with both India and Pakistan so that the aspirations of the Kashmiri people may be realized.”
Hurriyat Conference (M) spokesman in a statement termed RISISC-Jordan’s annual report for year 2018, declaring Mirwaiz among the most influential 500 Muslims across the world and among five in the sub-continent, as a matter of pride and honour for the people of Kashmir and an acknowledgment of their rightful and just struggle for self determination.