Mirwaiz Removes Hurriyat Chairman Reference From X Bio

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Thursday evening removed the designation Chairman, All Parties Hurriyat Conference from his verified X profile, retaining only his name and location details. He has over two lakh followers on the platform.

The move comes months after the Centre banned his organisation, the Awami Action Committee (AAC), under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in 2025.

Explaining the change, the Mirwaiz said he had been under sustained pressure from authorities to alter his profile description in his capacity as Hurriyat chairman, citing the ban on Hurriyat and its constituent organisations.

In a post on X, Mirwaiz said that authorities had warned him that his account would be taken down if he failed to remove the reference to Hurriyat Conference, as all its constituents, including the AAC which he heads, stand banned under UAPA.

“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 the outside world,” he wrote, calling the situation a “Hobson’s choice”.

Following the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, the Centre banned most Hurriyat Conference constituent groups, while several senior leaders were arrested or booked under stringent laws.