At the age of 17, following the assassination of his father by unknown gunmen, Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq, the leader of Awami Action Committee, Farooq united 23 Kashmiri pro-freedom organizations into the All Parties Hurriyat Conference. Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq's funeral procession on 21 May 1990, witnessed the bloodshed near the Islamia College, wherein 72 people, including four women were killed; his body being dropped in the middle of the road. This roused public sentiment, and gave leverage to Mirwaiz Umar Farooq's political work in the valley. He has constantly tried to raise awareness about the Kashmir issue internationally. He was also shown among the Asian Heroes by Time magazine. He maintains that dialogue must take place with India and Pakistan, so long as the Kashmiri aspirations are heard as well.
Career
He became the 14th Mirwaiz on 30 May 1990. Rediff On The NeT's Chindu Sreedharan interviewed him in 1997, in which he described the role of Mirwaiz in Kashmir politics :- "My family played a major role in evolving politics here. The first party, the Muslim Conference, was established in the valley in 1931. My great grandfather, the then Mirwaiz headed it. In fact, it was he who introduced Sheikh Abdullah to the people. Later, Abdullah formed the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference and my grandfather was exiled to Pakistan where he died. My father then took over. In 1963, he formed another party -- the People's Action Committee -- which stood for giving people their basic rights. Till 1990 when he was assassinated, he was campaigning for that cause. So all along, the political role has been present in the institution of the Mirwaiz."
Education
Before joining Kashmir politics, Farooq was an alumnus of Burn Hall School in Srinagar. He had interests in computers and wanted to become a software engineer. He holds a postgraduate degree in Islamic Studies called ‘Moulvi Fazil’, and a PhD in same from Kashmir University, on the topic "Politico-Islamic role of Shah-e-Hamdan", a 14th-century Islamic scholar who introduced Islam in the Valley.
Personal life
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq is married to Indian-American Sheeba Masoodi, youngest daughter of Sibtain Masoodi, an Indian doctor of Barzulla locality of Kashmir, which is famous for its Bone and Joints Hospital, settled in Buffalo, New York, in the United States, migrating in the early 70s. Mirwaiz is father to two daughters, Maryam and Zainab; and a son born on 11 February 2017.
