Sheikh Mohammad Imran, a resident of Ishber Nishat Srinagar, is a young and dynamic leader, a social activist, an entrepreneur, promoter of startups, CEO and founder of multiple ventures and leading many multi-dimensional ventures. He had an innovative mind since his childhood that brought him to an exploring institute of our valley, the prestigious “Burn Hall School” from where he did his schooling till 1990 and learned the basics of his educational journey that further took him to one of the best schools in the country, “Good Shepherd International School”, Ooty, Tamil Nadu where he had many feathers in his cap by proving basic leadership qualities from becoming a house vice-captain to house captain and excelled not only in academics but also in sports and extra circular activities. He also attended duke of Edinburg during his education in Ootacamund – ooty.

For studying further and earning the jewels of learning, he went to the University of Asia in Sharjah (UAE) and then for advance studies he moved to New York and got enrolled in Hudson Valley Community College & State University of New York in Albany, New York.

When being an entrepreneur is considered hard, being a young entrepreneur is considered even harder. Young entrepreneurs have less experience than their elder counterparts but they have a core competence evolving in them and that is the degree of innovation and creativity that they have in them, this creativity makes them stand different from the other lot and proves to be a pace in excelling of their ventures, they always accept challenges and are ready to synchronize creativity to overcome situations and challenges which Mr. Imran has done multiple times in less than half a decade of his creative entrepreneurial journey till now. He has gathered trust and confidence of cynical business veterans, potential customers, partners, employees, investors and bankers by delivering fruitful results every year.

Mr. Imran since joining his family trading business diversified the business with creating many new ventures and tasted success in every dimension which is reflected in total turnover. He put into practice modern operational and tactical processes in his ventures to create a dynamic and growing business environment. He is clear in his vision and motto that is to connect tradition to technology and bring the UT of Jammu & Kashmir on the global economic map.

It’s important to mention that in relation to this he called up a conference in the year 2012, a conference identical to the World Economic Forum wherein he invited corporate giants of the country like Mr. Rattan Tata, Mr. K.M Birla, Mr. Rahul Bajaj, Mr. Deepak Parekh (Chairman, HDFC Bank), Mr. Ashok Reddy (MD, Naukri.com) and other dignitaries. The conference was done in order to contribute to the economics and investments of the state of J&K, wherein Mr. Rahul Gandhi and then chief minister, Mr. Omar Abdullah were on board. This conference opened many avenues for the students and few likeminded entrepreneurs from the state of J&K who were invited for showcasing the talent, creativity and potential of Kashmiri entrepreneurs and demonstrating attractions to all the corporate giants for future investments.

Mr. Imran also played the role of a catalyst to start the operations of private banks like HDFC, ICICI, and AXIS bank in the UT and he owns the role in growth of their branches across our UT, banks cater to the financial issues of the general public and this service got easy and widened because of his tireless efforts.

Mr. Imran has represented the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir in the 15th IIFA (International Indian Film Academy) Awards 2014 at Raymond James Stadium; Tampa where it was for the first time that erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir was showcased as participant which added to huge tourism inflow. His creative image led him to lead the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir at such a grand platform where people from all walks of life gather to celebrate the art and creativity of film industry. IIFA Awards are a set of awards presented annually by the International Indian Film Academy to honor both artistic and technological excellence of professionals in bollywood; these ceremonial awards are held every year in different countries around the world.

In his journey of discovering, Mr. Imran took initiatives for agricultural activities and organized events like “Grower Conclave & Apple Mela” in the year 2015, these gatherings witnessed 1500 growers, orchardists, farmers, horticulturists and agriculturists, who discussed new tactics and trends of farming with the use of appropriate technology and modern methodology, this initiative received notes of appreciation from every section of our society and became a historical step for the revival and strengthening of the agricultural and horticultural sectors in particular and industrial sector in general, this conclave witnessed participation of various dignitaries and the event was a huge success. With its success, this event became a model for many conclaves and conferences that were initiated by SKUAST University, following the conceptual trends set by him.

Mr. Imran, with his hard-working skills, his selfless aura and business perfection, has made warm relations with all the sections of society, be it a farmer, a bureaucrat, or a politician, everyone comes under his friendship circle. His services to the society have been numerous including various CSR initiatives directly and indirectly. He was a pioneer in giving a start to the biggest cricket league tournaments like “J & K Corporate Premium League” and “Downtown Premier League” on the format of IPL; this channelized the sporty talent of our local youth and resulted in a proactive and productive doctrine. This initiative was appreciated by every section of the society as every society wants its youth to indulge in genuine and productive activities. Mr. Imran is also in direct contact of youth and youth forums, his aim remains firm in understanding the thought process of our youth so, that they resolute to contribute to our totality.

Under the CSR initiatives and activities, Mr. Imran constructed 380 bathrooms in Bandipora on the banks of Wullar Lake, adopted many schools, gave many ambulances, distributed live stocks and implemented many livelihood programs under CII foundation.

Mr. Imran contested elections in the apex trade body KCC&I and won with the historical margin of 386 votes which was highest ever in three decades and was pro- active executive member of the executive council of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Furthermore, he contested elections for the national apex trade body and successfully became the zonal chairman of CII and after holding the position of CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) for 2013-14 & 2014-15, Kashmir zone, was also the Vice Chairman of CII J&K State Council for 2015-16 and then Mr. Imran successfully won the elections and became the chairman of CII for J&K State Council for 2015-16. It was for the first time in CII state council that this was termed as the golden era with full activities and participations.

Furthermore, he has headed and remained an important part of numerous domestic and international delegations like Invest North, New Delhi – 2012,13,14 & 15, several regional council meetings of northern region, G-20 Young Leaders Summit in Australia and China, CII Business delegation to USA (2012), which was hosted at the White House by United States Business Council in Collaboration with the ambassadors of New York and Washington States, in the same course of journey he met United States Home Department, Aspen Chamber of Commerce, President Exim Bank, Mr. Farooq Kathwari, Director Ether Allen and Promoter Kashmir Think Tank (USA) and discussed various issues pertaining to business and economic sectors with business personalities and this gave a way for a strategy to be implemented with their guidance in the state of J&K for a developmental process in these sectors altogether.

Apart from this, he has struggled for excellence in business sector and has visited countries like United Kingdom, Europe, Italy, France, Middle East, Germany, Poland, China, and Pakistan, where he has had open experience and interactive sessions with leaders, government officials, businessmen, and members of the civil society and with this he earned great knowledge to be used with required expertise for uplifting economic sectors in our state. This tour left a remarkable impression and developed a business as well as socio-political network with influential class around the globe.

Mr. Imran has also met the renowned humanitarian and philanthropist Mr. Abdul Sattar Edhi, Chairman of Edhi International Foundation, Pakistan. In his meeting with Mr. Edhi, he discussed various social and humanitarian issues on ground.

In his journey to Pakistan in 2009, he met Ex. Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr. Nawaz Sharif at a marriage function of trade and chamber head in a business delegation and discussed issues related to dialogue for solving the ‘Kashmir Issue’ within the constitution on India and stressed on giving solution to the long-lasting chaos and turmoil for the development of entire region to venture into the peace instead of conflict.

In 2016, on a business delegation to London, United Kingdom, he happened to come across Mr. Abdul Rashid Turabi, chief of Jamat-I-Islami, of Pakistan Controlled Kashmir while protesting at 10 Downing street against India wherein dissent and disagreement was conveyed on street to their entire group and then in 2017, he met Ex. President of Pakistan Mr. Parvez Musharraf, in all of these meetings he emphasized on dialogue, solution, peace and growth for the state of Jammu & Kashmir and further stressed to end violence as to end the atrocities of the people of Jammu & Kashmir.

Mr. Imran was recently honored to become a part of a business delegation led by the honorable President of China (2016), he represented the state of J&K and remained substantial in Prime Minister’s delegations, G-20 Summit (China 2016), where he conveyed the importance of peace in J&K for the sub-continent.

Apart from this he was invited to J&K Festival (London 2016), House of Commons (UK 2016), and House of Lords (UK 2016) where he delivered a lecture that invited kind attention and huge appreciation from prestigious gathering there. He was an important member and a special invite for the Commonwealth Delegation of Young Entrepreneurs (CAYE) to Pakistan (2016) and United Kingdom in 2016 as well.

Adding to his profile Mr. Imran has been facilitated with many prestigious awards and all of the awards carry great significance. Mr. Imran has been a live example of hard work and has led Kehwah Group to excel as a Business Leader and a corporate giant and with his selfless dedication towards his work, he has positioned the group to become prominent in the corporate world, with numerous offices across the state and country, his business group contributes to the economy and employment generation of the UT of Jammu & Kashmir.

Sheikh Mohammad Imran is a famous personality in the field of business and socially he is an influential youth icon of Jammu & Kashmir. The youth of our UT see a ray of hope in his services that only talk about serving the common people of our land as he always pressurizes the authorities for working efficiently in favor of the common creed. He has stressed on creating institutions that are people friendly and talk about the comfortable sustenance of people, he has called for collaborations with youth fronts that bring forward our youth who are important and influential in their disciplines to work for the betterment of our motherland and do the required networking for cultivating and propagating the new narrative which is going to any door to every door and any table to every table for dialogue, solution and peace by bringing the ‘Change by Choice’ in our land.

There is a history of deadlock and disconnect between leadership and our youth, Sheikh Mohammad Imran is building his political aspiration to break this deadlock and work hand in hand with the youth to change the working structure of political representation and develop a new face of politics that talks only about the growth of youth, uplifting of the needy, and serving the common people in accordance to their wishes and aspirations.

Sheikh Mohammad Imran envisions a state where leadership is directly connected with the youth who are the change makers of our nation and society. Keeping in view the aspirations of the common people, civil society, intellectual class, socio-political giants, religious lobbies, and especially the youth of Jammu & Kashmir, Sheikh Mohammad Imran has formed JKPA (Jammu Kashmir People’s Alliance) for representing the aspirations of all these members of the society and work together with them for making our land a better place and voicing for a dialogue that will solve the problematic state of our motherland.

Furthermore, he has been one of the most active and powerful Deputy Mayor of Srinagar as the chair of Deputy Mayor was never known before Sheikh Mohammad Imran. He was responsible for organizing an important meeting of Mr. Bondvick, Former prime Minister of Norway and head of Oslo Centre in Norway with top separatists and mainstream leaders on behalf of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji.

Before being detained he was the Deputy Mayor of Srinagar. He was detained for a period of nine months from August 5 2019, post abrogation of Article 370 and 35A and a no confidence motion was passed against him while he was in detention. As soon as he was released, he ousted the Mayor for the reasons of corruption and started a UT wide movement against corruption with a vision of new leadership from grass root level.