Former President of Hurriyat Conference and Prof. was an important part of Kashmir’s separatist politics for a long time. Abdul Gani Bhat died at the age of 90. After his death, various reactions have come to light about him. Somewhere he was called a “voice of restraint” and somewhere “supporter of dialogue”. But the situation is that even though Abdul Ghani Bhat has been presented as a face distance from the path of violence, but the depth of his political life is clear that he had played an important role in airing the separatist ideology in Kashmir.
Born in 1935, Bhat graduated from Sri Pratap College, Srinagar in Persian and a law degree from Aligarh Muslim University. He was a long time professor and lawyer. In 1986, he stepped into politics and joined Muslim United Front (MUF) founding leaders. This was the same period when the atmosphere of electoral rigging and mass dissatisfaction in the valley was sowing the seeds of separatism and terrorism.
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After the 1987 assembly elections, when the MUF was kept away from power and broader arrests were made, separatism has received new energy. Bhat also went to jail and after that he left the mainstream politics and made his mark on the stage of Hurriyat Conference.
In the 1990s, when Kashmir was scorching from terrorism, the Hurriyat worked to give ideological basis to the separatist agenda. Bhat, along with Syed Ali Shah Geelani and other leaders, became part of this “United Front”, which brought Kashmir to separate the demand from India to international forums.
Bhat was often called “liberal” or “pro -dialogue” leader in the Hurriyat. He participated in talks with Atal Bihari Vajpayee and later Dr. Manmohan Singh’s governments. But it is also true that even while advocating the dialogue, Bhat had never accepted the sovereignty of India. He was opposed to taking up arms, but remained an advocate of the ideology of separatism.
It is also the fact that the Hurriyat was divided into two parts when supporting the conversation with the central government and the organization was divided into two parts. This meant that even though Bhat was in favor of dialogue, his agenda was “a peaceful solution of Kashmir within India” but “to legalize separatism”.
Let us tell you that Bhat disagreed with the politics and violence of a long time, but he never clearly rejected the anti -India agenda. His role gave separatism a “intellectual” and “restrained” face, which led to the belief that Hurriyat is not just a front of terrorist organizations, but also a political option. This is the reason that when he met Vajpayee and Advani or interacted with Manmohan Singh, the pro -Pakistan stream sent a message that “international validation” of separatism politics is possible. This indirectly became an incentive for terrorists and their supporters.
On the other hand, Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and other leaders described him as “symbol of dialogue” and “the voice of restraint” on the death of Bhat. But it is also ironic that the same Bhat became the last president of the Hurriyat under whose leadership the organization was divided. His legacy is still disputed today. The question is, were he really to find a solution or was he going to be an ideological syrup to separatism?
At the same time, Abdul Gani Bhat’s life reflects the complexities of Kashmir politics. They distanced away from guns and violence, but also contributed to strengthening the roots of separatism. As a teacher and scholar, his language remained restrained, but his thoughts pushed many generations to anti -India thinking. Today, when he has passed away, there are two types of images in Kashmir – one of a “conversion scholar” and the other “leader who has given a wind to separatism”. History will probably remember him as a person who did not support violence, but did not even let the fire of separatism cool.