Fridays are solemn. They are sacrosanct. Across the Islamic world, they are an occasion when hands go up in prayer. On several Fridays after the Pahalgam terror attack on 22 April—and the short but sharp military conflagration between India and Pakistan that ended in a tentative ceasefire on 10 May—Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Kashmir’s chief priest, wondered if he would be allowed to lead Friday prayers from the historic Jama Masjid mosque in the old city of Srinagar.
The Mirwaiz has traditionally led prayers and addressed the congregation every Friday—even through the peak years of militancy in the Valley—but that changed after 5 August 2019, when the Narendra Modi government revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. Thousands of troops guarded each street.
The Mirwaiz’s home in Srinagar was a 'no-go' area. He was placed under house arrest and no one had the liberty to walk in through the gate, or out of it. There were no conversations, no Friday prayers.
For four long years, Fridays came and went. The locked gates of the Mirwaiz’s home and the Grand Mosque, which has borne testimony to Kashmir’s turbulent history, were mute reminders of the times when the chief priest once spoke to his people; when congregations were allowed; when conversations—even dialogues—were not a crime.
A Memory Rekindled by Blood
The state had, in 2019, also been cleaved into two Union Territories, and Kashmir is now in New Delhi’s backyard, governed through a Lieutenant Governor (LG). The LG’s office and his security apparatus decided whether prayers could be offered by the locals, even in neighbourhood mosques. The Mirwaiz was allowed to undertake the journey, which not far from home, only in September 2023.
The past is often embedded in the present. The past came like a forceful but painful reminder on 22 April, the day the Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam was stained by the blood of 26 innocents.
The Mirwaiz was at home and his mother reminded him that the day coincided with the Islamic date marking the “martyrdom” of his father, Mirwaiz Molvi Mohammad Farooq. To use his words, the past reminded him of how his father “36 years ago fell to the bullets of assassins for standing for peace, dialogue, and resolution.”
The brutal gunning down of Kashmir’s mehmaan, or guests, trespassed an unwritten, unarticulated boundary. The stain was a burden the Kashmiri conscience could not bear.
Not in Our Name
At 10:36 pm on 22 April 2025, a few hours after the ordinary Kashmiri had already demonstrated their anguish at the attack on tourists, he posted a tweet, calling for a bandh the next day, “to protest the heinous crime.” The people heeded the call.
Not only were businesses shut, but people came out in thousands, lighting candles and marching the streets, while holding the national flag in their hands.
The message was clear. One placard, which read, “Peace not pieces,” summed up the solidarity with which Jammu and Kashmir rose.
The ’Not in Our Name’ message needs to be consolidated by New Delhi. The man who can help the Centre address the trust deficit is the Mirwaiz himself. I reached out to him after the attack in Pahalgam and again after the ceasefire. The socio-religious-political leader spoke exclusively to The Quint twice and made several crucial points that are worth Delhi’s attention.
The fact of the matter is that while the Modi government is focussed on articulating and reiterating its red lines vis a vis Pakistan, it also needs to heed the calls for peace and stability, emanating from the Valley and from Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu.
Through our two conversations, the Mirwaiz sounded desolate. His replies encapsulated the reasons for why the current moment in time is an opportunity that New Delhi must simply not squander.
'Dialogue Is Not Anti-National'
He was quick to pick up the phone and dive into an interview for The Quint.
“I am not a free man,” he said, as he answered my questions, reminding me that there may still be consequences for the interview he was giving The Quint. He made several points that are worthy of New Delhi’s attention because not only will they help de-hyphenate India and Pakistan, they will also result in reducing the trust deficit between Srinagar and Delhi. I reproduce them as bullet points:
“Each time there is tension between India and Pakistan, we in Jammu and Kashmir bear the brunt. Innocent civilians including young children were killed in Poonch during Operation Sindoor. They did not deserve to be collateral damage.
Prime Minister Modi promised to reduce ‘dil and Dilli ki doori’, but the trust deficit is at its lowest ebb. The people of Jammu and Kashmir spoke in one voice after Pahalgam. The government must consolidate these gains.”
“A dialogue will lead to peace and stability. Delhi should craft a set of confidence building measures with us. India and Pakistan have issues to sort out, but why drag us in? Why are we made to pay a price? Our dilemma is that if we say jung karo (go to war), we’ll be called bhakts, but each time we say, talk to Pakistan, or talk to us, we are labelled as deshdrohis (anti-nationals.) It is easy to be a hardliner, but it is difficult to be a moderate. I have always advocated for a dialogue.”
“There is a human aspect to this war. Each time the Line of Control is under fire and the artillery shells strike civilians on both sides, we are forced to worry about our relatives living across. My father’s sister is buried in Rawalpindi and my father’s cousins live there. There was a bus that travelled from Srinagar to Muzaffarabad that I took that during (Pervez) Musharraf’s time. When I look back, it feels like a dream."
“We stood in solidarity after the Pahalgam attack because we felt the pain of the families who lost their dear ones on our soil. We bowed our heads in grief but sadly, we have not even been acknowledged. The people of Jammu and Kashmir who took out candle vigils and opened their homes and hotels did not even find a mention in Modi’s Mann ki Baat speech. It would have been nice to have been acknowledged. Many are now questioning the silence and asking if in the end, it is about ‘Hindu India’ and ‘Muslim Kashmir’. As the Mirwaiz, I do represent a faith and I worry because the Kashmiri students and professionals who came back after some of them were targeted, are not really the best of ambassadors when they return out of fear for their lives and livelihoods. Delhi needs to understand this."
"Does the Government Want Resentment to Grow?"
“Does the government want resentment to grow? The biggest, most important mosque is routinely shut. The youth ask me, why are we not allowed to offer namaz? Why is Delhi afraid of prayers, of congregations?”
“New Delhi only wants to push its narrative. In the past, the BJP acknowledged us. Vajpayee never said he would give us azadi (freedom), but the government was willing to talk to us.”
He was referring to the dialogue initiated during Vajpayee’s tenure as prime minister when AS Dulat, former RAW chief, who then served as an advisor to Vajpayee on Kashmir, got the prime minister to have a cup of tea with the separatists. The word ‘separatism’ is now equated with terrorism.
Narendra Modi, in fact, called off talks with Pakistan soon after he became the prime minister in 2014. The foreign secretary-level talks were called off in August that year, after the Pakistan High Commissioner to India met a Hurriyat Conference leader in his office a few days before the foreign secretary was to travel to Islamabad. The Modi government did appoint an interlocutor for Kashmir in 2017 but the only major announcement at the time was an amnesty for first-time stone throwers.
“We (some members of the Hurriyat Conference) met LK Advani as home minister. I was berated by Syed Ali Shah Geelani for being ‘the Advani Hurriyat’ but I have always favoured dialogue,” the Mirwaiz said. He also acknowledged that there has been no contact between him and the LG in Srinagar, or anyone in Delhi, since the revocation of Article 370.
“My party, the Awami Action Party was banned in March for five years by the home ministry under the stringent UAPA. Show me one statement where I’ve even asked for a stone to be thrown, let alone for boys to pick up guns,” the Mirwaiz said.
He is contesting the ban in court just as he is contesting the curtailment of his freedoms. He was surprised to learn that his party had been banned soon after he returned from Delhi where he spoke at the Joint Parliamentary Committee to point out the impact the Waqf Act would have in Jammu and Kashmir.
While in Delhi, he also met with representatives of various organisations representing Kashmiri Pandits who were forced to migrate during the turbulent 1990s. He shared a little secret too: his childhood friend, who continues to remain his best friend, is a Pandit. When in Delhi—much to the surprise of his many Muslim colleagues and acquaintances—he only stays at the home of his Pandit friend.
“How am I anti-national if I talk about peace? Dialogue is a must to bridge the gap between Delhi and Srinagar. Talk to us. It will help address the trust deficit… Punish Pakistan, don’t punish Kashmir and Kashmiris,” the Mirwaiz told me, adding, “statehood must be restored but we need to go beyond that. We need to address the trust deficit between Srinagar and Delhi.”
“In 2014, we welcomed Modi. He reminded us, initially, of Vajpayee. The government must differentiate between what suits the BJP and what helps India as a nation. Dialogue is the only way forward."
“Even during Parvez Musharraf’s time, India was looking for out of the box solutions.” The Mirwaiz was referring to the high-level Agra Summit between Vajpayee and Musharraf, who had deposed Nawaz Sharif in a coup after the short but sharp war over the heights of Kargil. He was referring also to the back-channel talks that continued through the prime minister-ship of Manmohan Singh.
Dialogue, Not Detentions
It is difficult to argue against any of the points being made by the Mirwaiz. A meaningful dialogue with Kashmir, will, in fact, hit at the heart of Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir’s argument that it remains an unresolved issue.
A reach-out—particularly at this point, when Kashmiri’s are openly criticising Pakistan—provides an ideal opportunity for a compact between the government and Kashmiri society. The window must not be squandered.
The Mirwaiz is a moderate voice. His voice carries weight amongst his people and going, even by diplomatic parlance, he qualifies as a ‘dove’ and not a hawk. He, in fact, can be the bridge. It is Delhi’s moment to seize.
Postscript: The Mirwaiz’s seven-year-old son objects to being called “chhotte Mirwaiz”. Why? Because they’re put under house arrest. Violence is impacting young minds. He is amongst the third generation that is growing up under the shadow of conflict.
(Harinder Baweja is a senior journalist and author. She has been reporting on current affairs, with a particular emphasis on conflict, for the last four decades. She can be reached at @shammybaweja on Instagram and X. This is an opinion piece, and the views expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)