Farooq Rehmani lauds Professor Abdul Gani Butt’s lifelong services to Kashmir
Islamabad: Muhammad Farooq Rehmani, senior Hurriyat leader, former Convener of the APHC-AJK chapter and Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Freedom League, has paid glowing tributes to the life-long services of Professor Abdul Gani Butt in the fields of political freedom, education and Kashmiri language and literature in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Muhammad Farooq Rehmani, in a statement issued in Islamabad, said that despite the decades-long tragedy in IIOJK, Professor Butt remained an eloquent speaker who used his sense of humour in his speeches.
He paid tribute to Professor Butt’s role in the founding of Muslim Conference and his association with the founding of other organizations, including Muslim United Front (MUF), Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Kashmir (THK) and the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) in IIOJK.
Rehmani said Professor Butt firmly believed not only in the Kashmiris’ right of self-determination but also in resolving the long-standing Kashmir dispute through tripartite negotiations or credible arbitration.
He also recalled that Professor Butt, as a teacher, was a colleague and close friend of Professor Ghulam Rasool Bacha , a great educationist and founder of the Muslim Education Trust in IIOJK. He said both shared a common ideology regarding the future political status of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Their tireless political endeavours and contributions for the emancipation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir will always be remembered by the people of this region,” he said.
In conclusion, Muhammad Farooq Rehmani prayed for Allah’s blessings upon the graves of the true sons and martyrs of Kashmir and expressed hope that the shackles of Indian slavery and repression would be broken in the near future.
Professor Abdul Gani Butt passed away after a brief illness in his native Sopore on September 17 last year. The occupying Indian authorities had dismissed him from his teaching position as a professor for his pro-freedom activities.
