Veteran Kashmiri student leader Anwar Ashai passes away in Srinagar
Srinagar: Veteran Kashmiri student leader and a prominent figure in Kashmir’s political history, Mohammad Anwar Ashai, passed away at his residence in Rajbagh, Srinagar, Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, today. He was the son of renowned educationist and freedom fighter late Ghulam Ahmad Ashai.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Anwar Ashai’s demise was widely mourned by his former colleagues, friends and acquaintances, who remembered him for his long association with Kashmir’s student and political movements. His Namaz-e-Janazah was offered at his residence after Asr prayers and was attended by a large number of people from different walks of life.
Ashai’s death evoked tributes from those who knew him, with many recalling him as a steadfast figure who played a notable role during an important chapter of Kashmir’s political history.
Anwar Ashai inherited a strong tradition of public engagement that shaped his political life. He became actively involved in student activism in Kashmir during the 1960s, a period that witnessed the emergence of organized student movements in the Valley.
He was among the members of the Students and Youth League, which emerged in Kashmir in 1964, and belonged to a generation of young Kashmiris who were among the early participants in organized student activism in the Valley.
Those who knew Ashai remember him not only for his activism but also for the personal hardships he endured because of his political convictions. Like many of his contemporaries, he experienced imprisonment and political uncertainty, experiences that remained an enduring part of his life long after his years of youthful activism had passed. He was jailed several times for raising his voice over the rights of the people of Kashmir and endured periods of confinement, including in dark cells.
