Senior Hurriyat leader, Allamah Mohammad Abbas Ansari (86), Founder, and Chairman of Ittihadul Muslimeen; Hujjatul Islam, passed away this morning around 9:30 a.m. at his residence in Khankhai Subah Nawakadal in Srinagar.
Earlier this year, Ansari was admitted to SKIMS Soura due to his deteriorating health.
Ansari, who was also a noted Islamic scholar, gained his education from the Oriental College, Srinagar. He also went to Najaf, Iraq, for studies where he spent eight years.
He rose to Kashmir’s political scene during the Holy Relic Movement in December 1963. Ansari remains one of the prominent Kashmiri figures who advocated Shia-Sunni unity in the valley, and was one of the members of the Muslim United Front (MUF), an organization that would bring together various factions and would strengthen im Unity.
Ansari met Sheikh Abdullah in New Delhi and appealed to him not to sign the Indira-Sheikh Accord and not give up on the Plebiscite Front since many Kashmiris had lost lives between 1947-1974. Sheikh Abdullah signed the accord anyway.
In 1986, as Moulana Ansari saw that in the south of Kashmir, Ghulam Rasool Qadri, a local cleric of a religious group, Jamiat e Ahli Hadith led a protest against the stone pelting on Dr. Nisar for leading a protest against the suspension of officials who had refused to fire at the protestors in the wake of a riot like a situation that had emerged as Babri Masjid’s gates were opened for Hindu worshippers.
Within no time, Moulana Abbas Ansari got in touch with Dr. Nisar and initiated talks and then a series of negotiations with him through Ghulam Rasool Wani. Abbas Ansari in his autobiography, ‘Khar e Gulistan’ speaks of various meetings he held with Dr. Qazi Nisar in Anantnag.
For his advocacy of the rights of Kashmiris, he was jailed several times in his life under the National Security Act (NSA) and the Public Safety Act (PSA).
In December 1994 and November 2000, Ansari gave presentations on Kashmir at the OIC meetings in Morocco and Qatar, respectively, following which his passport was held by the Indian government in order to prevent him from travelling abroad.
Pertinently, Ansari was suffering from health ailments for long and over a couple of days, his health had deteriorated. His family said that he breathed his last at his residence in Nawakadal area.
The Hurriyat Conference, taking to Twitter, paid respects to the departed soul. “We express our deep sympathies and reverence to Maulana sb. We pray for his departed soul and seek sabr for his family and loved ones,” tweeted the Hurriyat Conference.
It also added, “Today, the people of Jammu and Kashmir and especially the Hurriyat Conference has lost a great man who dedicated his entire life to the cause of his people. We will dearly miss him and his able guidance. Until we meet again, inshallah.”
Former Chief Minister and the PDP President, Mehbooba Mufti, consoled Ansari’s passing away and said, “Maulana Abbas Ansari sb lived a life dedicated to the cause of peace and Islam. An ardent advocate of unity who led a pious and a humble life. He leaves behind a rich legacy etched into the hearts and minds of people of Kashmir. Allah darjat buland farmaye.”
Meanwhile, the National Conference leader Ruhullah Mehdi, too, condoled Ansari’s passing away.
Ansari’s funeral was held after Zuhr prayers and he was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard in Babamazaar Zadibal. Thousands participated in the funeral.