Veteran Separatist Leader Abdul Gani Bhat Passes Away in Kashmir
Srinagar: In a big loss to Kashmir’s political scene, former Hurriyat Conference chairman and senior separatist leader Abdul Gani Bhat died on Wednesday evening. He was 89. Bhat breathed his last at his home in Botingoo village, Sopore, in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district, after a short illness. Family members confirmed the news and said details about his funeral prayers would come later.
Born in 1935 in the same village near Sopore, Bhat came from a family that put a lot of emphasis on education. He studied at Srinagar’s famous SP College and went on to do his postgraduate in Persian. Later, he earned a law degree from Aligarh Muslim University. Back in Jammu and Kashmir, Bhat started teaching Persian at the Government Degree College in Poonch. He loved his job and stuck with it for more than 20 years.
But politics soon called him. In 1986, Bhat helped start the Muslim United Front (MUF), a group of separatist parties that teamed up to fight the 1987 Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections against Farooq Abdullah’s National Conference (NC). Many believe those elections were rigged, which left MUF supporters frustrated and sparked the start of armed insurgency in Kashmir in 1989. Some young election workers even crossed the border to get weapons, kicking off the unrest.
Bhat stayed active in separatist politics for decades. He became chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), formed in 1993 as a coalition of groups pushing for Kashmir’s separation. He also led the Muslim Conference, Jammu and Kashmir (MCJK), which the Indian government has banned as a political outfit. While teaching at a government college in Sopore, his services got terminated by then Governor Jagmohan over alleged anti-national activities.
Bhat’s death marks the end of an era for Kashmir separatist politics. His life story—from educator to key figure in the Hurriyat movement—highlights the turbulent history of Jammu and Kashmir. Tributes are pouring in from across the region as people remember his role in the long-standing Kashmir conflict.
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