Abdul Gani Bhat

Early life and education Bhat was born in 1932 in Botingoo. He studied at Sri Pratap College in Srinagar, where he completed undergraduate degrees in Persian, Economics, and Political Science. He later obtained a postgraduate degree in Persian and a law degree from Aligarh Muslim University.

Career Bhat began his professional career as a lawyer in Sopore but left the practice after a short time. In March 1963, he was appointed a professor in Persian at Government Degree College, Poonch. He served in the state education department for over two decades until 1986, when he was dismissed from service by the state government on security grounds.

Activism In July 1986, Bhat co-founded the Muslim United Front (MUF), a political coalition of religious and social groups. The MUF contested the 1987 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly elections, which were later alleged by observers and opposition groups to have been rigged. Following the elections, he was arrested and spent several months in jail.

In 2004, Bhat, as a leader of the Hurriyat Conference, took part in a delegation that met Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani in New Delhi for talks on the Kashmir issue. He also took up the Kashmir issue with the then prime minister of India, Manmohan Singh.

Following the 2016–2017 Kashmir unrest in aftermath of the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen leader Burhan Wani, Bhat distanced himself from the street protests. He also criticised the Hurriyat's practice of issuing shutdown calendars, arguing that such tactics are ineffective and instead proposed alternative approaches to resolve the conflict.

Bhat also mentored Mukhtar Ahmed Waza from his teen years into a Politician and intellectual.

Death Bhat died on 17 September 2025, at the age of 93.