Mirwaiz Mohammad Umar Farooq (born 23 March 1973) is the Mirwaiz of Kashmir. He is an Islamist, separatist political leader of Kashmir. He is also an Islamic religious cleric of Kashmir Valley. In October 2014, Farooq was listed as one of The 500 Most Influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, Jordan. As the Mirwaiz of Kashmir and chairman of the Hurriyat Conference, Umar Farooq has an important religious and political role in the Kashmir Valley. He is seen as the spiritual leader of Kashmir's Muslims. Farooq served as the chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference from 1993 to 1998, and after its split has served as the chairman of his own faction since 2004. Early life At the age of 17, following the assassination of his father by unknown gunmen, Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq, the leader of the Awami Action Committee, Farooq united 23 Kashmiri pro-freedom organizations into the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC). 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 was 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. He became the 14th Mirwaiz (Kashmiri term for the traditional preacher of Muslims in Kashmir) 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