Influential leader MolviIftikharHussain Ansari passes away SYED IMRAN ALI HAMDANI SmallerDefaultLarger Srinagar, Sep 30: Noted Islamic scholar and veteran politician MolviIftikharHussain Ansari passed away Tuesday morning after a prolonged ailment. He was 72. Ansari, who was last year taken to the US for treatment, breathed his last at his Dar-Ul-Jawad, Qamarwari residence here before his family members including wife, two sons and daughter. THE FUNERAL A pall of gloom descended various circles particularly the Shia community as sea of mourners beating chests rushed to his residence, wherefrom the funeral procession proceeded towards Imam Bara Zadibal where his Nimaz-e-Jinazah (funeral prayers) was led by Sheikh Muhammad HussanZakiri. Prior to Jinazah, his nephew and senior separatist leader Molvi Abbas Ansari addressed the mourners and paid glowing tributes to the departed soul. Former Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed and scholar Syed Mustafa Rizvi also addressed the mourners. His mortal remains were laid to rest at their ancestral graveyard at Baba MazarZadibal. Agha Syed Hassan Alsafvi Al Mosvi, Agha Mehmood Hassan Alsafvi Al Mosvi and Aga Ruhullah Mehdi of Budgam and MoulanaMasroor Abbas were also present. Other prominent faces included Iftikhar’s Peoples Democratic Party colleagues like MPs MuzaffarHussain Beg, Tariq Hamid Qarra while many Ministers from ruling coalition including Ali Muhammad Sagar were also present. For smooth movement of funeral procession, the Traffic Police had kept in place the arrangements with most of the City roads getting packed to capacity due to the traffic diversions as a large number of people moved towards Zadibal and Qamarwari. The funeral procession passed through Saikidafar, EidgahHawalGaysiyarChowk and Alamgari Bazar. THE COINCIDENCE Call it fate of coincidence, but Iftikhar’s father MoulanaJawad Ansari, had died five days past major floods in the City in 1957 while son left for heavenly abode a few days after the recent ravaging floods. During floods, Iftikhar was rescued from deluged Qamarwari and shifted to his daughter’s residence at Alamgiri Bazar wherefrom a few days back he was brought back to DarulJawad. POLITICAL PROFILE Known as a very strong leader in state’s political spectrum, Ansari’s demise is termed as a great loss for the state with the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah among the first to reach the bereaved for condolence. Born in 1942, Ansari, a Khanqah-e-Sokhta native who got his initial schooling from MP School, had a debut in politics when his father, a prominent Shia leader died in 1957. In 1964 Iftikhar was active member of Action Committee. In 1969, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah called State Peoples Convention, where Iftikhar formally joined politics. In early ‘70s he joined Congress. After the 1975 Kashmir accord, he resigned from the party. In 1976, he fought as independent candidate against Begum Abdullah. In 1977, he joined Janta Party and the same year he unsuccessfully contested from Pattan Assembly constituency. In 1983, he contested from Congress again. He later joined back National Conference and was Housing Minister in the 1996 NC government. He later joined PDP in 2004, resigned from Assembly and then got associated with the party. EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND After his father’s death, Iftikhar went to SultanulMadarisLucknow for further studies where from he obtained degrees in Arabic and Persian. He subsequently went to Najaf-e-Ashraf Iraq for studies of Islamic Fiqh, where was educated under the guidance of famous scholars Aqa-e-Shahrudi, Aqa-e-RazaGulPaygani and Ayatullah Aka-e-Mohsin Hakim. He returned to homeland in 1968 to head the Shia Association, the pivotal charge he held till death. He had a hold on five languages which include English, Kashmir, Persian, Arabic and Urdu. Iftikhar is likely to be succeeded by his son and scholar Moulana Imran Raza Ansari.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 00:34:57 +0000
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