Mirwaiz Umar Farooq now delivers cautious, prayer-focused sermons at Jamia Masjid, speaking with measured tones rather than fiery rhetoric. Large historical congregations that once filled the mosque and echoed calls for Kashmir's independence have dwindled; current gatherings number about 4,000 worshippers. For nearly three decades, Farooq combined religious leadership with strong political advocacy for independence through peaceful dialogue. Decades of armed conflict since the 1980s brought a heavy Indian security presence and widespread casualties. Those factors, along with a shrinking public space for dissent, have led even prominent religious leaders to moderate public statements and exercise self-restraint.
On a sunlit June Friday in Srinagar's Old City, the Jamia Masjid stands as it always has, ornate and imposing. Its 14th-century wooden pillars have been witnesses to centuries of sermons and struggle. Inside, about 4,000 worshippers sit in silence. When Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the spiritual leader of Kashmir's Muslims, rises to speak, he does so with grace but caution. Draped in his customary golden-bordered white thobe and crowned with a brown Karakuli hat, he delivers a sermon laced with quiet prayers.
His tone is unrecognisable from just a few years ago, when the now 52-year-old mirwaiz as Kashmir's chief Muslim leader is known was a fiery orator, thundering with conviction, his speeches a powerful cocktail of religious messaging and politics. For almost three decades, Kashmir's supreme Muslim leader was also one of the region's most influential voices arguing for its independence from India through peaceful dialogue, at a time when the valley was a cauldron of violence.
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