https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Abdul_Gani_BhatAbdul Gani Bhat - Revision history2026-07-31T07:05:42ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Abdul_Gani_Bhat&diff=484174&oldid=prevMohammed Sajib at 18:10, 27 September 20252025-09-27T18:10:02Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Kashmiri academic and separatist leader (1932–2025)}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}}<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Abdul Gani Bhat<br />
| image = Abdul Gani Bhat.jpg<br />
| caption = Bhat in 2016<br />
| birth_date = {{birth year|1932}}<ref name="NYTObit">{{cite news |title=Abdul Gani Bhat Dies at 93; Kashmiri Separatist Championed Dialogue |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/world/asia/abdul-gani-bhat-kashmir-dead.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref><br />
| birth_place = [[Botingoo]],<ref name="NYTObit"/> [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir]], [[British Raj]]<br />
| death_date = {{death date and given age|2025|9|17|93|df=y}}<br />
| death_place = [[Sopore]], Jammu and Kashmir, India<br />
| occupation = Academic, politician<br />
| alma_mater = [[Aligarh Muslim University]]<br />
| known_for = Co-founder of the [[Muslim United Front]] (1986); chairman of the [[All Parties Hurriyat Conference]]<br />
}}<br />
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'''Abdul Ghani Bhat''' (1932 – 17 September 2025) was an Indian academic and [[Kashmiri separatism|Kashmiri separatist leader]]. He co-founded the [[Muslim United Front]] (MUF) in 1986, later served as chairman of the [[All Parties Hurriyat Conference]] (APHC), a coalition of separatist groups formed in 1993, and was president of the Muslim Conference, Jammu and Kashmir (MCJK), a [[political faction]] banned by the [[government of India]].<ref name="m103">{{cite web | last=Ashiq | first=Peerzada | title=Hurriyat leader Abdul Ghani Bhat expelled for meeting Centre's representative | website=The Hindu | date=10 December 2017 | url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/prof-bhat-removed-as-muslim-conference-chief/article21385135.ece | access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref><ref name="s849">{{cite web | author=The Hindu Bureau | title=Government bans two factions of Jammu & Kashmir outfit Muslim Conference, Jammu and Kashmir under UAPA | website=The Hindu | date=28 February 2024 | url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/two-factions-of-muslim-conference-jk-banned-by-home-ministry/article67896485.ece | access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref><br />
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==Early life and education ==<br />
Bhat was born in 1932 in [[Botingoo]]. He studied at [[Sri Pratap College]] in [[Srinagar]], where he completed undergraduate degrees in Persian, Economics, and Political Science. He later obtained a postgraduate degree in Persian and a law degree from [[Aligarh Muslim University]].<ref name="NYTObit"/><ref name="s826">{{cite web | title=Abdul Ghani Bhat | website=Al Jazeera | date=24 April 2003 | url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2003/4/24/abdul-ghani-bhat | access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref><br />
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== Career ==<br />
Bhat began his professional career as a lawyer in [[Sopore]] but left the practice after a short time. In March 1963, he was appointed a professor in [[Persian language|Persian]] at [[Shri Krishan Chander Government Degree College, Poonch|Government Degree College, Poonch]]. He served in the state education department for over two decades until 1986, when he was dismissed from service by the [[government of Jammu and Kashmir|state government]] on security grounds.<ref name="s826"/><ref name="g510">{{cite web | last=Life | first=Kashmir | title=Over to Professor | website=Kashmir Life | date=30 March 2016 | url=https://kashmirlife.net/over-to-professor-issue-02-vol-08-100506/ | access-date=23 August 2025}}</ref><br />
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=== Activism ===<br />
In July 1986, Bhat co-founded the [[Muslim United Front]] (MUF), a political coalition of religious and social groups. The MUF contested the [[1987 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election]]s, which were later alleged by observers and opposition groups to have been rigged. Following the elections, he was arrested and spent several months in jail.<ref name="s826"/><ref name="g510"/> In the aftermath, the MUF fragmented, with Bhat reviving the Muslim Conference, Jammu and Kashmir (MCJK) as one of its successor factions, while the [[Jammu and Kashmir National Conference]] (JKNC) continued as the state's ruling party.<ref name="u105">{{cite web | title=Interview: Abdul Ghani Bhat, MG Vol. 1 No. 13 | website=milligazette.com | date=15 August 1947 | url=https://www.milligazette.com/Archives/15-7-2000/Art18.htm | access-date=23 August 2025}}</ref><br />
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In 2004, Bhat, as a leader of the Hurriyat Conference, took part in a delegation that met [[Prime Minister]] [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]] and deputy Prime Minister [[L. K. Advani]] in [[New Delhi]] for talks on the [[Kashmir conflict|Kashmir issue]].<ref name="j217">{{cite web | last=Reshi | first=Haroon | title=Kashmir fondly remembers Atal Bihari Vajpayee | website=National Herald | date=17 August 2018 | url=https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/obituary/kashmir-fondly-remembers-atal-bihari-vajpayee | access-date=23 August 2025}}</ref> He also took up the Kashmir issue with the then prime minister of India, [[Manmohan Singh]].<ref name="b091">{{cite web | last=Lone | first=Sameer Showkin | title=With Geelani taking the backseat, will Professor now drive Hurriyat? | website=dailyO | date=30 June 2020 | url=https://www.dailyo.in/politics/hurriyat-conference-sas-geelani-abdul-gani-bhat-kashmir-mirwaiz-umar-farooq-33217 | access-date=23 August 2025}}</ref><br />
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Following the [[2016–2017 Kashmir unrest]] in aftermath of the killing of [[Hizbul Mujahideen]] leader [[Burhan Wani]], Bhat distanced himself [[Stone pelting in Kashmir|from the street protest]]s. He also criticised the Hurriyat's practice of issuing shutdown calendars, arguing that such tactics are ineffective and instead proposed alternative approaches to resolve the conflict.<ref name="b091"/><br />
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In December 2017, Bhat was removed from his position as president of the MCJK amid internal disagreements over his reported meeting with India's interlocutor, [[Dineshwar Sharma]]. The removal was initiated by other party leaders, including Mohammad Sultan Magray, who was appointed acting president.<ref>{{cite web | last=Ashiq | first=Peerzada | title=Hurriyat leader Abdul Ghani Bhat expelled for meeting Centre's representative | website=The Hindu | date=10 December 2017 | url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/prof-bhat-removed-as-muslim-conference-chief/article21385135.ece | access-date=23 August 2025}}</ref><br />
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Bhat also mentored [[Mukhtar Ahmed Waza]] from his teen years into a Politician and intellectual.<br />
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== Death ==<br />
Bhat died on 17 September 2025, at the age of 93.<ref>{{cite web|date=17 September 2025|title=Prof Abdul Gani Bhat Passes Away at 89|website=Kashmir Life|url=https://kashmirlife.net/prof-abdul-ghani-bhat-passes-away-at-89-405709/|access-date=17 September 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=18 September 2025 |title=Abdul Gani Bhat, former Hurriyat chairman and 'voice of moderation', passes away at 93 |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/abdul-gani-bhat-former-hurriyat-chairman-and-voice-of-moderation-passes-away-at-90-10256448/ |access-date=18 September 2025 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref><br />
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== References ==<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhat, Abdul Gani}}<br />
[[Category:1935 births]]<br />
[[Category:2025 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian Muslims]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century Indian Muslims]]<br />
[[Category:People from Sopore]]<br />
[[Category:Kashmiri people]]<br />
[[Category:Kashmiri politicians]]<br />
[[Category:Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University alumni]]<br />
[[Category:Kashmir separatist movement]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Muslim activists]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Muslim politicians]]</div>Mohammed Sajib