Veteran Hurriyat leader and former chairman of the separatist amalgam, Abdul Gani Bhat, passed away at his Sopore residence in Baramulla district on Wednesday. He was 90.
Bhat had been unwell for several years and was largely confined to his home. Confirming the news, Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said, “I just received a call from Bhat Sahib’s son confirming the sad news about the demise of the veteran leader.”
Sources said Bhat will likely be buried in his ancestral graveyard in Sopore.
Tributes Pour In From Hurriyat Leaders
In a post on X, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq expressed deep grief over the loss: “Just heard the very sad news that I lost the affectionate elder, a dear friend and colleague, Prof. Abdul Ghani Bhat Sahib, who passed away sometime ago. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un. A huge personal loss! May Allah grant him the highest place in Jannah. Kashmir has been bereft of a sincere and visionary leader.”
At the height of militancy in Kashmir, Bhat was regarded as a peacenik among separatist leaders, advocating dialogue with New Delhi over armed conflict. He played a crucial role in initiating Hurriyat’s talks with the Centre, first under the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and later during the UPA government headed by Manmohan Singh.
Political Journey and Legacy
Born in 1935 at Botengoo in Sopore, Bhat studied Persian at Sri Pratap College, Srinagar, before completing postgraduate degrees in Persian and Law from Aligarh Muslim University. He worked as a professor of Persian at Government College Poonch from 1963 until his dismissal from service in 1986 on security grounds.
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Bhat entered politics the same year, co-founding the Muslim United Front (MUF) alongside Jamaat-e-Islami. He was jailed after the 1987 assembly elections, which the MUF lost despite significant public backing.
Later, he revived the Muslim Conference, which became a key constituent of the Hurriyat Conference formed in 1993. Bhat was the last chairman of the undivided Hurriyat before its split over talks with New Delhi. Known as a suave politician, he opposed the use of guns and frequent shutdowns as political tools in Kashmir.
