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All Parties Hurriyat Conference president Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday removed the 'Chairman' designation for All Parties Hurriyat Conference' from his verified profiles on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.
Farooq clarified his move, saying that after authorities warned that his account could be taken down, citing the ban on the Hurriyat Conference and its constituent bodies under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). In a post on X, Farooq wrote, "For some time now, I was being pressed by the authorities to make changes to my X (formerly Twitter) handle as Hurriyat chairman, as all constituents of Hurriyat Conference, including the Awami Action Committee that I head have been banned under the UAPA, making Hurriyat a banned organisation, failing which they will take down my handle." https://x.com/MirwaizKashmir/status/2004419032112636196?s=20 He said he had little choice but to comply with the authorities' directive, stating that social media remains one of the few platforms left for him to communicate with people and share his views with the wider world. "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. Under such circumstances, it is a Hobson's choice I was left to make," the post read. Following the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, the Centre banned most constituent groups of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), with several senior leaders either arrested under stringent laws or stepping away from public life. Awami Action Committee, which is Mirwaiz's own organisation, was also banned by the Centre under the stringent anti-terror law. All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) was formed on March 9, 1993, and emerged as an umbrella body for separatist groups in Jammu and Kashmir. (ANI)
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