With a Broader Vision

By Zubair Ahmad, "Mirwaiz to study at Harvard" - Greater Kashmir - Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India
Sunday, April 27, 2008

Kashmir’s head priest and chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, is headed for Harvard University early next year for a fellowship program at its Belfer Center of Science and International Affairs.

This time, the separatist leader is planning to attend lessons in leadership and conflict management rather than lecturing on the Kashmir issue.

“I am looking forward to do a fellowship at Harvard. Probably early next year, I will take a couple of months off for attending classes,” Mirwaiz Umar told Greater Kashmir. “It will probably help and give me a better perspective of global situation and conflict resolution.”

Upbeat about the fellowship at the prestigious Harvard Kennedy School, Mirwaiz said that the good thing about the course was its flexibility. “So I can take some time off,” he said.

Though the course starts this fall, Mirwaiz plans to begin attending classes early next year after the completion of his Ph D programme.

Mirwaiz, who is presently writing his thesis on Sufism, had to stop attending school regularly because of his father’s assassination on 21 May in 1990.

Then a teenager, he became the head priest of the valley and the chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference. He later went on to complete his graduate degree in Islamic Studies from Kashmir University.

Viewing the course as a continuation of the process of learning, Mirwaiz said, “I am about to complete my Ph D on Sufism in Islamic studies. A few months back, I spent four weeks at Cairo University in Eygpt for completing my thesis. So it is a part of the process of learning.”

However, this is not the first time Mirwaiz could sit behind a desk since his sudden ascent to chairman’s position. “I was attending classes in US recently. But I am sure that the experience this time shall be refreshing,” he said.

While politics in Kashmir shall continue, Mirwaiz hopes to return home with a broader vision.

“We live in a conflict zone. I think that studies should help. There is no harm to look at things from different perspectives,” Mirwaiz said when asked whether professional demand was a motivation.

“It is good to have people of different walks of life like businessmen, environmentalists and others as your fellow students. It gives you different perspectives.”

[Visit the University of Harvard, USA http://www.harvard.edu/ and the Belfer Center http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/index.html].