APHC, other Hurriyat parties & leaders term Prof. Butt’s demise a great tragedy
Srinagar/Islamabad: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference and various political and religious organizations in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Azad Jammu and Kashmir have expressed deep grief and sorrow over the demise of veteran Kashmiri liberation leader, intellectual, and former APHC Chairman Professor Abdul Ghani Butt, who passed away on Wednesday evening at his residence in Sopore.
According to Kashmir Media Service, in Srinagar, APHC senior leader Shabbir Ahmad Shah, APHC spokesman Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas, Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) spokesman Advocate Arshad Iqbal, jailed leader Bilal Siddiqi, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Alliance spokesman Sajad Mir, Maulana Musaib Nadvi, and several others, in their separate condolence statements, described Prof. Butt’s death as a great tragedy and an irreparable loss. They extended heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved family and prayed to Allah Almighty to grant the departed soul eternal peace.
Agha Syed Hassan called Professor Butt “a noble soul who dedicated his life to religion, humanity, and wisdom.”
In Islamabad, Papkistan, the APHC-AJK Chapter also expressed profound grief, terming Prof. Butt’s demise a “huge loss.” Senior APHC-AJK leaders, including Mehmood Ahmed Saghar, Muhammad Farooq Rehmani, Syed Faiz Naqashbandi, Mushtaq Ahmed Butt, Altaf Hussain Wani, Zahid Safi, Zahid Ashraf, Hassan Bana, Altaf Ahmed Butt, Shameem Shawl, Mir Tahir Masood, Ijaz Rahmani, Khalid Shabir, Muhammad Sultan Butt, Imitiyaz Wani and Shaikh Abdul Majid, paid glowing tributes to the veteran leader for his lifelong struggle for the Kashmir cause.
Mehmood Ahmed Saghar said Prof. Butt was a man of honesty and integrity whose services to the just cause of Kashmir would continue to inspire future generations. Altaf Hussain Wani, recalling his long association with the late leader, described him as a man of rare wit and wisdom who distinguished himself not only as a thinker and orator but also as a sharp negotiator and prolific writer. “In his death, Kashmir has lost not only a leader but a true statesman whose foresight and intellectual depth left a lasting imprint on our collective memory,” Wani said.
The leaders noted that Prof. Butt, co-founder of the Muslim United Front (MUF) in 1986 and later chairman of the APHC, devoted several decades of his life to the political struggle of Kashmir. Despite being terminated from service under what he himself described as a “majoritarian diktat,” he remained steadfast in his commitment to the freedom struggle. His role in shaping Kashmir’s political discourse, they said, would be remembered for generations.
The APHC leaders prayed to Almighty Allah to grant Prof. Abdul Ghani Butt the highest place in Jannah and to give strength to his family and admirers to bear this irreparable loss.
