Moulvi Mohammad Farooq | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mirwaiz of Kashmir | |
| In office 1968 –21 May 1990 | |
| Preceded by | Mirwaiz Yusuf Shah |
| Succeeded by | Mirwaiz Umar Farooq |
| Title | Mirwaiz-i-Kashmir |
| Personal life | |
| Died | 21 May 1990 |
| Cause of death | Assassination |
| Resting place | Mazar-e-Shuhada (martyr's graveyard),Eidgah Srinagar |
| Children | 2,including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
Mohammad Farooq Shah commonly known as Mirwaiz Moulvi Mohammad Farooq was the Mirwaiz of his time in Kashmir and chairman of All Jammu and Kashmir Awami Action Committee,a coalition of disparate political parties in Jammu and Kashmir that sought resolution of the Kashmir conflict. [1] [2]
Shah was assassinated on 21 May 1990 by gunmen at his residence at Nageen,Srinagar. His funeral procession passed by the bloodshed near the Islamia College of Science and Commerce,Srinagar,wherein 72 people,including four women,were killed;his body was dropped in the middle of the road. This roused public sentiment and gave leverage to Mirwaiz Umar Farooq's political work in the valley. [3]
In 2010,more than 20 years after the assassination of Shah,a Hizbul Mujahideen militant Mohammad Ayub Dar was convicted. The Supreme Court of India upheld the conviction. [4]
On 16 May 2023,Jammu and Kashmir Police announced a major breakthrough into the Shah assassination case by arresting two Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militants (Javaid Bhat and Zahoor Ahmed Bhat) who were "evading arrest for over three decades". [5] In a press briefing,the police said the arrested militants included the one who had entered into the bedroom of late Mirwaiz and opened fire at him.