People of J&K want peace, not war: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq
The Hindu
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq appeals for peace in Kashmir, urging India and Pakistan to de-escalate and work towards ceasefire.
Kashmir’s chief cleric and Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday (May 16, 2025) made a passionate appeal to India and Pakistan to “de-escalate” and “work towards a permanent ceasefire in J&K”.
Delivering a customary sermon at the Jama masjid in Srinagar, the Mirwaiz highlighted the deaths of twins in Poonch in the recent military confrontation between India and Pakistan in J&K. “The image of the smiling twins, the 12-year-old Zain and Urwa, will continue to haunt us. The pain runs deep. In the last few days, we have gone through another harrowing experience that this festering conflict ignited, hours close to an all-out war between two nuclear countries,” the Mirwaiz said.
He said Kashmir is a nuclear flashpoint that can explode anytime. “For India and Pakistan, it is a territorial issue, but for the people of J&K living the reality of this conflict daily, it is a bleeding wound that refuses to heal. How long are we going to suffer and live in fear and uncertainty?” the Mirwaiz asked.
He said while everyone was talking about Kashmir, no one was talking to Kashmir: “to its people, those who live here”.
“For people of Jammu and Kashmir, we want peace, not war. We want resolution, not continuation of the conflict,” the Mirwaiz said.
The Mirwaiz warned that military brinkmanship only leads to disaster. “Do India and Pakistan want peace, or one-upmanship, people of Kashmir wonder,” he added.
He said it was his earnest hope that the ceasefire announced by the Director General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of both sides till May 18 “becomes permanent”.
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